Shippers’ council budgets N1bn for system automation
• Pushes higher capital base for freight forwarders
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) said it has
budgeted above N1billion for system automation in
its medium term economic programme. The
automation is meant to ease operations at the
nation’s ports, with a view to significantly reducing
costs for ports users.Intimating journalists at the
weekend in Lagos on ‘Transforming the Nigerian
Ports for National Economic Development: The Role
of Nigerian Shippers’ Council,’ the Executive
Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, NSC, Hassan
Bello, said the automation is part of a national
single window being introduced at the nation’s
ports.
He disclosed that other agencies at the ports,
including the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA),
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency (NIMASA), and Nigeria Customs Service
(NCS), are all part of the single window and have
also automated their systems.
He said: “The automation is the aggregate of all the
automation that would be integrated as a unified
platform, and we will have a national single
window. The window is built on separate systems
but these systems must be integrated.”
Bello noted that the system would not be static, as it
will be improved on over time, as operators and
ports users comment on its efficiency and
effectiveness in meeting their needs. He added that
port operators, such as freight forwarders, are also
encouraged to key into the process, to enhance their
operations.
He identified other short and long-term strategies
that will enable the Shippers’ Council attain its
mandate. They include: implementation of the
recently launched Standard Operation Procedures
(SOP) for all agencies operating in the ports, and the
implementation of the International Cargo Tracking
Note (ICTN), a web-based transport document
meant to provide accurate shipping data.
With regard to pushing for increase in the capital
base of freight-forwarders, Bello, who refused to
state a specific amount for the industry
consolidation, noted that operators would be
carried along in whatever is prescribed.
“Yes, we’ve been talking about consolidation, but it
is not like the Shippers’ Council will force
consolidation on the freight-forwarders. Despite
saying the economy is in recession, it is very
important for them to increase their capital base,”
he said. He disclosed that part of the reason for
pushing the capital requirement is to enable the
Council change the policy on how Nigeria’s crude is
sold – from being Free on Board (FOB), which
indicates whether the seller or the buyer has
liability for the state of the goods during shipment
between the two parties, to cost, insurance and
freight (CIF). This requires the seller to arrange for
the carriage of goods by sea to a port of destination,
and provide the buyer with the documents
necessary to obtain the goods from the carrier.
He argued that the move became necessary given
the fall in oil prices at the international market
occasioned by over-supply. He added: “The
elements of recession is very important in whatever
policy you come up with, and the most important
thing is that all policies must be run by the people
you’re trying to change those policies with.”
Against this backdrop, he disclosed that the Federal
Government, through the Ministry of Transport, has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
between the Nigerian Government and Singapore’s
Pacific International Line (PIL), to float a joint
venture national carrier.
Under the terms, “PIL will have 40 per cent of the
equity and Nigerian entrepreneurs will have 60 per
cent. The government is not putting a kobo in the
venture because government is not a good business
manager. Here, it is better handled by the private
sector, and the private sector has to be
responsible.”
To this end, “the venture will start with three or
four ships. These ships will fly Nigerian flags and
the status of national carriers conferred under the
law, which means they will be getting national
cargoes as well as from all the projects cargoes,”
Bello said.
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