Bello: Dry Ports Coming with Success Story of Export Boom
* Says Funtua, Jos Dry Ports to be commissioned soon
The Jos and Funtua dry ports will soon be ready, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello has said.
Bello told newsmen in Lagos that the two dry ports will be ready between December this year and January 2020.
According to him “we have up till December to bring on board Funtua and Jos. Two weeks ago, we had meetings with Funtua and Jos – and we gave them the timeline for us to work so we see things are done”.
Bello also said that a lot of progress is being made by Kaduna dry port , but added that the issue remains the slow movement of containers from the seaports to the dry ports through rail.
“Am worried about the capacity of the railway. Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) now takes containers from Lagos to Kaduna where they are examined. Of course, because it is a narrow guage, we are worried about the speed which is 60KPH – that is the average. Am also worried about derailment. We need frequency and certainty – so that we can schedule that in every two days, it will take about 40 containers. They are overwhelmed in Kaduna. Many shippers have come, companies like Nokako in Kaduna, Orland Farms. They want to use Kaduna, but the capacity of the rail”, he said.
He however said that every agency of government has shown commitment to the success of the dry port.
Bello mentioned the Nigerian Railway as making every effort to increase the number of containers being moved to Kaduna by rail on weekly basis.
He said, “ we have upped the number of containers. Nigerian Railway has been very committed and the containers are taken there, they are examined there. The Customs Service has upgraded their Command . Central Bank has recognized Kaduna in electronic Form M – Kaduna as a port. Many banks are moving because of the transaction. NDLEA, SON, SSS, Police are in Kaduna”.
Bello also disclosed that Kaduna is witnessing a lot of export growth because of the dry port.
He said, ” Export has grown in Kaduna. Cow horn, ginger, habiscus are being exported through Kaduna. So what Shippers Council is trying to do is to acquire the land adjacent Kaduna dry port so that we have it for processing. We don’t want these raw materials to be exported. We want ginger to be processed and packaged so that there will be value addition. This will mean employment for people. We want zobo to be processed and packaged. We have been working with the Ministry of Finance to have a pre – inspection agency so that what we do, immediately this is done, the ship is waiting because of schedules and train will take these things. So more exports will be done. Kaduna will be a success story. Especially with rail coming on. And then we are looking at Kano which unfortunately has not been able to do anything. But we are into it. The moment we do that we will decongest the seaports and we bring shipping closer to the people and we grow the economies where these dry ports are sited.
“Am happy with what is happening in Kaduna, am happy with the regulators, CBN, Nigeria Customs and many others who recognized Kaduna and they are doing business there”.
When asked on the effect of the Council’s effort to assist some of the concessionaires to secure investors for their projects, Bello said a tremendous result has been recorded.
He said, “ some (dry ports) are dealing with Chinese companies. Like Jos, some with the Canadian investors at Isiala Ngwa. They are working at it – always having meetings”.
On the concerns raised that there is low volume of containers leaving Lagos to Kaduna on weekly, Bello said that shippers should also understand that this will soon be over.
He equally added that people should not forget that trucks also go to Kaduna with containers.
He said, “ It is low because of the capacity of the rail. But he has forgotten that trucks also come with the containers”.
He however added that the rail system was the best so that containers can be tracked to avoid diversion.
He said, “What we want is that with rail, we can tract the containers – so that there will not be any diversion – so that Customs will not lose that revenue. That is very important”
He disclosed that very soon , the people of Niger will be coming to inspect Kaduna so that their cargo can come through dry port.
“ We had meetings with Niger three weeks ago. They want their cargo to come, but they are looking at Kaduna. Already the Kaduna State government has led a trade delegation to Niger – so that they will consolidate that”.
He commended the Kaduna State government for their efforts in ensuring the success of the dry port through infrastructure development.
“Whatever happens to Kaduna, we should not forget, has the support of the Kaduna state government which has been solidly behind the Kaduna dry port. They provided so many things, the roads. They have done the in and out of the roads, they have provided security, light, water and any other infrastructure. So, what we are trying now to do is to make Kaduna security compliant, ISPS Code. It is very important, that is what is remaining. Then, the FIATA recognizing them which we are doing with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding (CRFFN) “
He added that the Council wants to acquire more land in Kaduna for export processing purposes.
“ Like I said Shippers Council wants to acquire the land so that we have factories at the port processing and packaging. We are acquiring more land with NRC. But we also have another land in Kaduna which has more space than the one near the dry port. This we are doing with Commonwealth Investment and Enterprise Council and the NEXIM Bank. They are going to give the support and Kaduna will be a full port. This we hope to do in Jos where we have two applications for industries to be located near the Jos dry port. We have Smelters there, we are already talking with them to see what could be done. But this whole idea is that we could reach Europe from Jos more than South Africa. It is about five hours to Europe, Germany, Britain and so on. We have that dream to do that”.
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