Stakeholder seeks NASS intervention over $6.5bn freight jobs to foreigners

By Temitope Adebiyi, Correspondent

Stakeholders in the nation’s maritime industry have urgent he National Assembly to enact the law that would reserve critical aspects of freight forwarding and customs brokerage sector worth $6.5 billion for indigenous operators.

Some of the stakeholders who spoke with the Spynews alleged that most of the government project, cargoes, and other freight forwarding businesses are handled by foreigners which has led to capital flight and posing serious danger to national security.

As at last year, findings revealed that the nation’s freight forwarding and logistics industry was estimated to be worth between $6.5 billion and $11.7 billion, making it one of the largest logistics markets in Africa.

The former Acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Farinto noted that Nigeria’s logistics industry had gradually slipped into the hands of foreign interests, leaving indigenous freight forwarders increasingly marginalised, particularly in the handling of project cargoes and customs brokerage services.

Farinto disclosed while presenting a position paper during a House of Representatives Breakfast Session organised to harvest practical policy recommendations aimed at advancing the nation’s economic development through legislative reforms.
Also, he identified the growing adoption of door-to-door logistics services by foreign companies as another major factor undermining indigenous freight forwarders.

According to him, the arrangement enables foreign firms to originate shipments overseas and deliver them directly to customers in Nigeria without involving local freight forwarders, effectively transferring business opportunities that ordinarily belong to Nigerians.

According to him, the development calls for urgent legislative intervention similar to the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act to ensure that critical components of the logistics value chain are reserved for Nigerians, stressing that logistics comprises several interconnected sectors, including transportation planning, cargo booking, documentation, customs clearance, warehousing, cargo handling and customs brokerage.

He noted that customs brokerage and freight forwarding should be protected because of their strategic importance to the nation’s economy and security, urging lawmakers to either enact a new law, specifically on indigenous freight forwarding or expand the country’s local content legislation to accommodate customs brokerage and other sensitive areas of the maritime logistics industry.

According to him, such legislation would stimulate local participation, create jobs and ensure that wealth generated within the sector remains in the Nigerian economy.
He said: “If freight forwarding is left in the hands of indigenous Nigerians, it will create employment opportunities and ensure that revenues generated from the business are retained within the country rather than being repatriated abroad.

“I cannot remember the last time an indigenous freight forwarder handled a major project cargo in Nigeria. Today, almost everything is controlled by foreign companies.”

Farinto lamented that foreign firms now dominate the lucrative project cargo segment of the industry, alleging that about 90 per cent of project cargoes entering Nigerian ports are handled by expatriate companies, explaining that indigenous freight forwarders, who previously played significant roles in handling specialised cargoes, had steadily been edged out by multinational logistics companies.

Alao, the former vice president expressed concern that international shipping companies had expanded beyond their traditional role of transporting cargoes into freight forwarding and customs brokerage, thereby competing directly with Nigerian practitioners.

Citing Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) as an example, Farinto said shipping lines are increasingly offering end-to-end logistics services that had significantly reduced business opportunities available to indigenous freight forwarders.

The former ANLCA leader warned that beyond its economic consequences, the increasing foreign participation in customs brokerage raises national security concerns because operators in that segment have unrestricted access to sensitive cargo information and import documentation.
According to him, Nigeria cannot afford to leave strategic logistics activities in the hands of foreign interests at a time when the country is battling insecurity, arms smuggling and transnational crimes.

He argued that operators intending to handle larger cargo volumes should be encouraged to expand into new port locations under properly structured port development plans instead of overstretching existing facilities.

Farinto concluded by urging the National Assembly to champion policies that prioritise indigenous participation in strategic sectors of the maritime industry, warning that failure to do so would result in increased capital flight, shrinking opportunities for Nigerian businesses and greater exposure of the country’s logistics system to security vulnerabilities.

The future of Nigeria’s freight forwarding industry l, Farinto said, “depends on deliberate legislative protection. If we fail to act now, we risk surrendering a strategic sector of our economy entirely to foreign interests.