May 17, (THEWILL) – The Coordinator, AviaCargo Road Map Committee, Mr Ikechi Uko, has observed that 80 percent of containers arriving Nigeria return empty and that, out of every ten containers that come into Nigeria, laden with imports, only about one or three leave the country with exports.
Despite Nigeria being touted as the largest producer of many agro-products, Uko revealed that the country loses $1bn annually to non-certification of agri-produce for export.
He gave the hint while speaking on the topic: ‘Repositioning Cargo Operations Through Development of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Nigeria’ at the FAAN National Aviation Conference (FNAC) 2023, held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, under the theme, “Sustainability Of The Aviation Industry In Nigeria”.
The aviation expert recalled that in 2021, Nigeria was second among the five biggest African exporting nations with South Africa on top, while Egypt, Algeria and Morocco trailed behind in that order.
He wondered why Nigeria, a country known to be number one in several things like economy by GDP, population, and agricultural commodities, is found as number five in the list of African AviaCargo export charts after Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, and Ethiopia.
For instance, Nigeria trailed behind at number five in the list of five Air cargo airports, according to a 2021 report, while Jomo Kenyatta Int’l Airport, Kenya; Cairo Int’l Airport, Egypt; Oliver Reginald Int’l Airport, South Africa; and Addis Ababa Bole Int’l Airport, Ethiopia, took number one to four positions respectively.
He, however, listed obstacles to agricultural exports including non-compliance of farmers to internationally and domestically accepted standards, lack of certification, inability to trace, lack of access to International markets, lack of Knowledge on global requirements, bureaucracy, and high cost.
Other obstacles, according to him, are preservation and packaging to global standards, poor logistics, insecurity, weakness of supervision, and poor airport infrastructure.
He equally listed some of the obstacles including lack of government support, mindset/attitudes, lack of skilled manpower, taxes and charges, and funding.
Nonetheless, Uko proffered that, for Nigeria to achieve improved AviaCargo export, all agricultural exports from Nigeria must start from a farm certified by the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) or a global GAP registered farm through a secured cargo pathway.
He emphasised that a “secure pathway for AviaCargo must be through a known shipper, regulated agent, handling company or airline.”
He equally advised states and federal agencies to start mitigation of the identified challenges and obstacles.
Recommendations, he said, have to wait until the study is completed, and the report and strategy plans are submitted.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
