From left: MD/CEO, NRC, Engr. Fidet Okhiria and ES/CEO, Nigerian Shippers Council during the official signing of the MoU in Lagos, Thursday.

The Nigerian Shippers Council NSC, the country’s Economic Regulator for the port industry and the Nigerian Railway Corporation NRC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding MoU as part of measures to integrate rail systems into the country’s seaports thereby boost movement of import and export cargo by rail.

This synergy had become necessary given that over 98per cent of Nigeria’s import and export cargo are moved by road with the attendant high cost and logistic bottlenecks while many of the seaports are not linked to rail lines.

Speaking at a one-day stakeholders’ sensitisation summit organised by agencies with the theme: ‘Limitations to rail transportation of cargo in Nigeria’, Executive Secretary/CEO of the Council, Barr. Pius Akutah said that the MoU, which was a major highpoint of the event, is designed to tackle the challenges associated with the high cost of transportation of cargo by the country’s shippers (importers and exporters).

He further disclosed that the Federal Government has embarked on strategic moves towards enhancing transportation of goods through the railways.

According to him, government is also promoting trade facilitation activities by mproving on transport infrastructure in the hinterland as part of measures to decongest the seaports.

“The target is for goods coming into the country to be freely transported to the hinterland by using the Inland Dry Ports (IDPs), which were developed by the Council.

“The NSC and the NRC are working together to develop structures and policies while returning back to the use of rail systems to move cargoes in and out of the hinterlands of the country. Both agencies believe that the best way to go in terms of cargo movement across the nation is to encourage the use of rail transport. Akutah disclosed that rail transport remains the best in terms of safety of cargoes, cost and efficiency.

“This synergy is also designed to ensure the return of rail transportation in its effectiveness back to the country in general and the seaport industry in particular because the government is focusing on promoting non-oil export activities because over the years, Nigeria has been importing goods and services from all over the world without growing its own export industry at the same proportion. So by focusing on exports, government will be able to take advantage of the opportunities inherent to Nigerian shippers through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA”, he said.

Akuta further argued that by signing into AfCTA, Nigeria has opened her markets, adding that by virtue of that agreement, Africa has a free market today and that Nigeria’s market is open to the whole of the African continent.

The NSC-boss said: The major challenge Nigerian Shippers face today is the issue of cost of transportation of goods from the hinterland to the seaports. The Council is set to advise the government on ways of promoting trade connections and connectivities from the seaports to the hinterlands.

“We are looking at policy generation, and so the NSC is working on a new policy guideline that would tackle the deficits in infrastructure. “You will see that even some of the seaports have decayed infrastructure due to several years of abandonment. So it is a huge investment.

“But the major thing that the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is doing is to put a policy in place that will promote private sector participation because government alone cannot fund this infrastructural deficit.

“But we want to ensure that as an agency under the Ministry, the Council will provide an enabling environment for private sector participation and for some of the critical infrastructure such as the IDPs to bring shipping facilities closer to the hinterlands for the benefit of shippers and indeed, every Nigerian.”