The National Association of Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC) has urged the Federal Government to dismantle multiple checkpoints along the Lagos-Badagry corridor and other entry points across the six geopolitical zones to encourage participation in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
NAFFAC lamented that Nigerian businesses may suffer major setbacks if government fails to resolve the bottlenecks on the movement of goods from the entry points and international frontiers, noting that the country’s goods and services have potentials to compete favourably in the region.
Speaking at a roundtable meeting put together by the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) on Wednesday in Lagos, President General of the foremost freight forwarding group, Prince Adeyinka Bakare expressed concern over the multiple checkpoints manned by security agencies and touts, stating that the illegalities would further affect foreign and local investment.
Bakare disclosed that the association had engaged government at all levels in furtherance to tackling the illegalities along the Lagos Abidjan corridor.
According to him, there are only five checkpoints between Ghana and Benin, noting that Nigeria only has over 30 checkpoints manned by operatives of the government which he described as “extortion of the highest order”.
Bakare who doubles as the Managing Director, De Potter Nigeria Limited explained that trade barrier must be eliminated for the country to participate fully in AFCFTA, calling on the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration to reduce the number of checkpoints along the routes to encourage international trade.
The NAFFAC boss explained that Nigeria stand a chance to benefit immensely in the exportation of her commodities to other countries of the continent if well harnessed.
While reiterating the association’s commitment towards encouraging exportation, Bakare states that freight forwarding business is beyond import, and urged government to look inward to put in place policies to drive export.
He bemoaned the poor foreign exchange rates against the Naira has also discourage international trade but expressed optimism that non-export would further grow the economy when government prioritize cargo exportation.
“Government needs to listen to this call because all our export supposed to be on CIF which is Cost Insurance and Freight and not the other way round.
“The issue of multiple checkpoints along the entry points is killing the business and it will affect the AFCFTA. The multiple checkpoints is not limited to Lagos Abidjan corridor alone. It is common in the northern region of the country and government is not doing anything about it”, Bakare said.
He added that the present government should further encourage non-export to tackle the fall of the Naira.
