Lack of export cargoes increases empty containers in ports – Bello

Hassan Bello is a lawyer and immediate past Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers Council. In this interview with Anozie Egole, he talks on the International Maritime Organisation’s decarbonisation plans amongst others

How has life been after exiting the Nigerian Shippers Council as the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer?

It has been very fruitful in advocacy, consulting and also running a law firm. So it has been quite rewarding.

While you were at the helm of affairs at the NSC, you made so much effort to ensure that the Inland Dry Ports are viable. Are you happy with the current situation of things at the dry ports?

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Well, I need to see development or actualization of the dry ports. You see, the Kano dry port is coming on now.  In a few months it will be commissioned; it has already started skeletal operations. Don’t forget before that, there was Kaduna which is operational and we have one in Ibadan which I am sure construction will soon start by the Chinese company. That of  Funtua is almost very much alive, so I think we are lucky to have about four which by next year, they will all be operational. So I think that is fairly successful.

This year’s IMO is aimed towards decarbonisation, do you think that Nigeria is prepared for the IMO’s decarbonisation plans?

You see my own argument about all these policy is who is contributing to all these emissions? What is the percentage of emission in trade in Africa that ships could bring and then what is the cost. Cost is important. A cargo is always made to bear the cost of these environmental reforms and it should not be so. We as a cargo owning nation should find our situation. IMO should always look at the cost. I will give you an example of when the container will was a thing and we said we should not bear the cost. This is shipowners cost. So my own is not about emission. We should of course try to curtail green house emission or emission from the ships, but the cost should not be borne by our nation. I am up for environmentally free maritime industry but at what cost and who is to bear the cost.

Shipwoners are saying that getting modern vessels who will comply with the emission reduction is capital intensive. Do you think there is need for intervention from the Federal Government?

I don’t think so. Maybe not directly, it should be a private sector thing. The private sector should be able to talk with IMO and see a gradual replacement of these ships not at once. We all like to be specific and compliant with what is happening especially as far as environment is concerned. But then the cost is there and the cost should be discussed. There is no need for IMO to say by this time we are going to do this or that, what about the cost of the execution? It should be made between the Nigerian ship-owners or African ship-owners with IMO so that a solution can be found. It should not be a general application. What applies to say Greece, America or western nation should not be wholly applicable to Africa. The cost should be looked at so that the thing should be done gradually with the interest of Africa at heart.

Logistics experts have raised concern on cargo evacuation at Lekki deep seaports considering the non rail connectivity to the port. What do you think is the way out?

Let me just say that the Lekki deep seaport is a major and fundamental investment by the country and it should be a thing of pride. We are having a seaport that is about 16.5 meters of draft that will accommodate larger ships especially with the economic ambition of the country as far as maritime is concerned. So we must applaud what is happening at Lekki. It is a thing of pride that is long overdue. It is going to employ about 170, 000 people. So the employment content of Lekki is enough pride for us. It means that larger ships will come because they are limited by the draft in Apapa and TinCan. But now, there is no more that limitation. So there is possibility that Nigeria will be a hub or a distribution center. You know what is happening now is that there are some ports that are distribution centers. Because of its population and size Nigeria should be a center or hub. So Lekki deep seaport is fundamental or critical to Nigeria’s economy. However, there are certain things we need to look at. We have to abandon ports that are not technologically complaint. For example Lekki deep seaport should operate 24hours. It should be digitized. That means nobody should go to Lekki deep seaport. Ratherm, it should be contact less port. It should reduce the cost of transport transactions, it should have connectivity with the hinterland, and there should be an attempt to make it an export port and you know Lekki is cited with a very dynamic export free zone- Lagos export free zone which is extremely dynamic. So we want it to be a center of distribution. We want it to be an export port and then the process and procedures should be driven by technology. It should not be a manual port for whatever reason. It should be a modern port. As for the transportation, there is need for it to be linked with rail and I think there are plans to do that. We also have movement of cargoes by barges through the inland waterways.

The Federal Government recently commissioned scanners for easy examination of cargoes at the ports; do you think it will go a long way in addressing the issue of congestion at the ports?

Of course it will go a long way to address some of the challenges we have at the ports. It takes 5 hours to do physical examination on one container while it takes 5 minutes to do the same thing by scanning. The Customs have done well by introducing the scanners and I think by and large we are going to have efficiency. It is going to eliminate corruption amongst others. So it is important that these scanners are installed everywhere as a way of doing business. It is primitive that we are using physical examination that is tedious and corruption infested. So scanners are the way to go. But we have to have modern scanners, like 3D modern scanners which will reduce the time and delay.

So you are of the opinion that scanners will hasten the process of cargo examination?

It will facilitate trade; the only thing is that it will reduce chance for compromise in examination and clearance of cargoes. It is automated so it will eliminate corruption. It is a welcomed development. Whoever that is complaining that it will cause delays is complaining because the person can no longer do things in the usual way. We really need to have scanners. Because Customs have technology they are the leading agency as far as technology is concerned. There e-customs program will also solve a lot of things as far as cargo clearance is concerned. We have about 21 days to clear cargo. We should do seven days which is average for our region and then we move to three days. So cargoes should be cleared on time. Technology is faster and eliminates corruption and cost.

There are insinuations that shipping companies have converted Nigeria to dumping ground for old and rickety containers. What is your opinion on this?

I don’t think that is actually true. You know the issue of empty containers exist because the traffic is one way. You know we have imports coming but they go out empty. With what the Nigerian Ports Authority is doing now, they are concentrating on exports and so also the Central Bank of Nigeria. We have the Nigerian Export Promotion Council and many others including the Nigerian Shippers Council. They are now focusing on export. So for every container that comes laden, another container will be taken out laden.  That will even reduce the cost of transportation; it will increase or grow the economy. We need to be export oriented. By the time we do that, you will see that containers are nowhere to be seen around. The reason we have so many empty containers is because we don’t export. By the time we start exporting everything will be fine.

Recently the NPA commissioned five Export Processing Terminals. What do you think that means to the nations’ export sector?

I am very happy about the export terminals. I really feel that NPA is being realistic; they are connecting the ports to the economy of this country. It is a work that we should also be very proud of. I think the NPA is also looking at the macro-economic policies on two issues. We have to export then we have to bridge the gap in the transport infrastructure deficit. We need to really stimulate the economy so that the focus will be the maritime industry. In fact it is the main thing now. It is better than oil and gas which is not certain. The maritime industry will fill the gap and diversify the economy. So NPA should be quite commended for what they are doing as far as export is concerned.

There are complains that Nigeria is losing cargoes to neighboring countries, do you agree with that?

I think we cannot say what shipping was 20years ago with what it is now; the privatization of our ports has increased efficiency. The terminal operators have really developed the ports and our shipping is not how it is used to be. However there is room for improvement but if we lose cargoes to neighboring countries, it is a function of choice by the shipper who has the right to nominate the place where the cargo should be and these are economic factors. How many documents would you have to fill before your cargo leaves the port? How many days before your cargoes leave the port or is delivered to you? So it is a matter of choice and efficiency. A shipper will always look for efficient port. So it is good for our ports to be efficient. What I will say is that there should be competition among the terminals.

How do you think we can ensure competition at the terminals?

There should be grading. The port should be graded by an authority based on efficiency and based on many other objective criteria. So, that will increase intra terminal competition among them. They should not be seen as one entity so that shippers will be advised on where to bring their cargoes.