Datsoho: FG's Policies Help Exports Grow by 25% in Two Years

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Abubakar Dantsoho, announced that exports from Nigeria have risen by over 25 percent in the last two years. This growth is thanks to policies from the federal government.

He shared this information at the ongoing Annual World Ports Conference in London, hosted by the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH).

Dantsoho mentioned that Nigeria’s large population gives it a strong edge over other countries in West and Central Africa. He added that recent changes have greatly boosted cargo handling.

He said, "So for us in Nigeria, the most important thing is that we are seeing growth as a result of this policy that we are taking. Statistically, the exports from Nigeria in the last two years have increased by 25%. And then these are exports that are not mainly only oil and gas; in terms of oil and gas like I mentioned, we are doing fantastically around that, but then also in the other areas of manufacturing and agriculture, you know, raw materials like cocoa, like cashew and all that. Volumes have increased and that this is to the credit of the partnership that we have between ourselves and the major terminal operators APM Terminals."

Mr Dantsoho explained that the NPA has plans to keep the export growth going. He mentioned that this is why they set up the Export Processing Terminal.

"We have got about four of those in Nigeria where we collaborate with the terminal operators, with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and other agencies that have a stake. So that everything regarding the processing of the cargo for export is done locally, so that by the time it is exported out of Nigeria, there will not be issues regarding standards," he added.

He noted that Nigeria is in a good position to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA) because of the current administration's reforms.

"Nigeria’s economy is very strong now because of our president’s reforms, which everyone can testify are attracting investors to the country. So because of that, we are leading other African countries to ensure that we export or trade within ourselves in a free and fair manner. So between, for example, Nigeria and Morocco, there’s a lot of exchange of ideas because Morocco is now a hub for manufacturing of electric cars and other smaller cars," Mr Dantsoho said.

He added that these reforms helped Nigeria secure two spots in the top 20 of the latest global ports ranking by the World Bank.

The NPA boss stated, "This is the result of hard work and efficiency because we are collaborating efficiently. And so we have identified that this is getting us a lot of good results. It’s result-oriented, it’s technology-based. So we are going to continue to consolidate on the relationship we have with major players in Morocco and South Africa."

He also said the reforms led to a fourfold increase in revenue from ports across Nigeria.

"We have experienced a lot of increase in volumes and revenue that has been generated by the ports across Nigeria, and it is strictly because of the collaboration between us and other countries. As a matter of fact, the efficiency in the ports in Nigeria is far better now than those of other West African countries.

"I am saying this because as the president of Association of Ports in West and Central Africa, we have the same dashboard to know the performance of other ports in the regions. There has also been improvement in Tanzania and Kenya. So it’s a very good feeling that this collaboration is getting us the desired results and we have to consolidate and also make sure that we progress on time so that we don’t allow the detraction to begin to slow us down."

He mentioned that the federal government is investing $1 billion to expand and modernise the Apapa ports for the future.

"So expansion and modernisation of infrastructure requires that we collaborate with private sector people. And in that area, like I said, we are working with APMT, we are working with other bigger players who have got the capital. But this is a project that requires a lot of investment. You have to put a lot of money to be able to do that. We are also working with some partners to develop our technology. So for example, in recent times, like a year ago, we had a partnership with a firm from Singapore."

"We have developed a simple window system. And right now, we are also working with another company from Abu Dhabi to develop the port community system. It is not only us partnering with the private sector, there’s also in the private sector, business-to-business relationship," he said.