Licensed customs agents operating in the nation’s maritime domain have kicked against the 15 per cent hike in port charges by the Nigerian Ports Authority, as the NPA has revealed that the implementation of the charge begins on March 1, 2025.
On February 7, 2025, The PUNCH reported that the NPA said it had secured necessary approvals for an upward review of its tariffs by 15 per cent, stressing that this was last reviewed in 1993.
It said the move was necessitated by the urgency of bringing Nigerian ports up to speed with its peers in terms of infrastructure and equipment to ensure competitiveness at the ports.
However, the NPA later said the upward review would not affect item rates such as the throughput and lease fees, rents on NPA landed properties, Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa levy, service boat operations, and hourly towage and mooring charges.
The Managing Director of NPA, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, while speaking in Lagos during a stakeholders’ engagement for the approved 15 per cent NPA tariff increment, highlighted that globally, port authorities depend on revenue from operations to stay alive to their responsibilities.
Giving an update on the levy, the General Manager of Corporate and Strategic Communications at the NPA, Mr Ikechukwu Onyemekara, told our correspondent that the collection would commence on March 1.
“We are starting on March 1,” Onyemekara said.
This came as operators at the ports declared that the implementation of the 15 per cent ports tariff hike would lead to a higher cost of doing business nationwide, as the cost of commodities would rise.
In a chat with The PUNCH on Monday, the Head of the Department of Shipping and Terminals at the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Mr Ukochukwu Nnadi lampooned the government for coming up with such a decision.
“All the government knows is to tax both the taxable and the ones that can’t be taxed. I am not even comfortable that they are taxing further not to talk of starting on March 1st. I am not comfortable with that as far as they are starting it, nobody is comfortable with that.
“If there are plans by NAGAFF to engage the NPA, it is a management decision and I am not privileged to speak about that now. It will affect the cost of doing business imagine what you were paying seven per cent before and it has now more than doubled,” Nnadi said.
A former acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Mr Kayode Farinto said the NPA is supposed to be sensitizing the general public on the tariff instead of implementing it.
He added that people are supposed to be sensitized at least 90 days before the implementation can take place if there is a need for the implementation.
“That is not good enough because they are still supposed to be doing sensitization by now. And I kept saying that the maritime industry do you need any tariff increase by now because we are still losing our cargoes to neighboring countries. I believe the minister should intervene immediately.
“They should sensitise people for at least a minimum of 90 days before you implement the tariff because this is still going back to the final consumer. I just hope they listen,” Farinto said.
Farinto highlighted that the country is currently losing about 27.5 per cent of its cargoes to neighboring countries, “if this hike is added, you should know that it will increase again.”
He warned that by increasing the cost of cargo clearance, overhead costs would be transferred to the final consumer.
“And whoever can’t tolerate it will have to reschedule their cargo or divert their cargoes to a neighboring country, it is a very simple thing to divert cargoes all you need to do is to tell your shipper abroad.
“They should be given more time, we are just entering this year and the volume of imports is dropping daily the government should bring out a cushioning effect because the government promised to alleviate the suffering of the people. These have not been done and they need to be done so that the trading community will know that the government is sensitive to the plight of the people,” Farinto advised.
OPS kicks
The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, decried the NPA’s 15 per cent increase in port-related charges, stating it would have a ripple effect, leading to higher production costs, increased inflationary pressures, and reduced competitiveness of locally manufactured goods.
Ajayi-Kadir, explaining that port-related charges manifest as indirect costs since most raw materials and industrial machinery are imported through ports, remarked: “Many manufacturers who operate as tenants in NPA facilities will also face escalated costs, which could significantly disrupt the slight moderation in the mounting challenges that have bedeviled the manufacturing sector in recent times.”
Further explaining the risks a 15 per cent port charge poses to the country’s competitiveness in regional trade, MAN’s DG noted that “Neighbouring countries with more efficient and cost-effective ports will become far more attractive alternatives, leading to increased cargo diversion.”
He warned that it would reduce revenue for the government and encourage smuggling which weakens the economy.
The National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George, said an increase in tariff would mean an increase in imported products.
“Without doubt, the Nigerian Port Authority Management would argue that it has been a very long time since there has been an increase, or a review of their tariffs, I think sometime around 1993. That would be the argument that it has been long overdue and there is a need to review it.
“Of course, the cost of running their business would have increased in different areas, necessitating an upward review of their tariffs. However, an increase in tariff would mean an increase in imported products because the importers will definitely pass it to the final consumers. My concern is to ask how the final consumers would be able to absorb this since there is no significant increase in their income.
“Others may argue that there has been an upward review of salaries, but the general inflation has taken away other things; there has been an increase in power tariffs, network tariff, the cost of food, and other very important products.”