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The Nigerian Ports Authority has said that 33, 471 vessels visited Nigerian Ports between 2015 to 2022.
The NPA disclosed this in the 3rd Edition of its handbook detailing the port statistical data between 2015 and 2022 obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday.
“In 2015, 4,927 ships visited the country and in 2016 the country received 4,622. In 2017, 4,292 vessels came, while 3,878 came in 2018. In 2019, a total number of 3,931 vessels came while 3,877 came in 2020. In 2021, the country recorded 4,141 vessel visits, while in the same period in 2022, 3,803 vessels were called,” the document explained.
In the volume of vessels that visited the ports, it was observed that there was a drop in the number of vessels that called at the nation’s seaports in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022 when compared with other years. And 2022 recorded the lowest number of vessel visits.
NPA also added that within the same period under review, the country handled 351,682, 903 tonnes of wet cargoes.
The data also showed a fluctuation in the port’s statistical data as some years like 2016, 2017, and 2022 recorded a drop in the volume of general cargo handled at the ports when compared with what was handled in other years.
The document further stated that in the last eight years, the total gross registered tonnage stood at 1,030,141,993 tonnes.
However, 2022 recorded the least in the area of gross registered tonnage with 116,684,380 tonnes followed by 2020 with 123, 634,771 tonnes, 2018 with 126,683,956, and 126,741,180 recorded in 2021.
According to the document, the ports recorded a 2,915,925-tonnes drop in wet cargo when you compare the 43,037,988 it handled in 2021 to the 40,122,063 it recorded in the same period in 2022.
On the number of 20-feet equivalent units of containers handled within the period under review, the data stated that a total number of 12,846,136 TUEs were handled between 2015 to 2022.
The data also showed that though there was a slight drop in the number of TEUs handled in 2022, with 1,708,167 TEUs, 2016, and 2017 also recorded significant drops with 1,299,761 and 1,289,576 respectively.
Reacting to the drop in cargoes, a former President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Dr Eugene Nweke, said Nigeria’s economic downturn that happened between 2016 and 2017 led to a reduced import demand.
He also stated that the currency fluctuations and naira devaluation increased import costs.
“High inflation also reduced purchasing power and consumption. There are also infrastructure and operational challenges like inefficient cargo clearance processes,” he said.
According to him, poor road networks also hinder the evacuation of cargo from ports stressing that inadequate storage facilities limit cargo handling capacity.
He also added that there are delays caused by extortion and bureaucratic delays emphasizing that trade policies including strict import regulations and tariffs also affect importation.
Nweke advised the government to diversify the economy by reducing dependence on oil exports and promoting non-oil sectors.
A former acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Mr Kayode Farinto, blamed government policies for the decline.
“Once you don’t have cargoes the number of vessels that visit will drop and you know that our policy in the last year and a half has not been friendly. Towards the end of the former administration, the dollar was scarce, when Bola Tinubu came, he abolished the parallel market and said that market forces should determine the dollar and that was when the dollar started fluctuating.
“So we should know that these are the policies that determine it. And many other things that this administration has done have also affected the industry. If they have a positive announcement tomorrow, you will see a surge in our importation. So it is a normal decline seen when your policies are not friendly,” he concluded.
