Apapa Road Affecting Exports, Says DG

• Apapa Road Affecting Exports, Says DG

African Centre for Supply Chain (ACSC) Director-General Dr Obiora Madu has said the rejection of agricultural produce overseas will continue if efforts are not made to improve access roads to the sea ports.

Madu expressed displeasure that 37,000 tons of cashew exported to Vietnam were rejected.

Nigeria exported goods worth $369,718,744,000 (approximately N113.4billion) to Vietnam in 2017, according to data obtained from Vietnam Customs.

He said the chaos in the logistics sector caused by the state of the ports’ access road was not helping the economy to enjoy export growth. This is because exporters keen to capitalise on the nation’s weakening currency and bumper harvests and booking shipping, are having difficulty finding the trucks to deliver their goods to port on time because of the state of the ports access roads.

On the explanation that 37,000 tons of cashew exported to Vietnam were rejected because of high price of the commodity, Madu warned exporters to seek proper education on exports contracts before shipping produce out of the country .

According to him, new exporters need education on signing export contract because of challenges which are often accompanied by significant losses due to unplanned delay in the port.

Madu stressed that Nigerian exporters must understand exports , and in general must educate themselves on unique industry matters relevant to selling their goods or services abroad.

He said local companies also must meet international requirements and food safety standards, storage, shipping and freight operations they need to move their produce abroad.