Poor rail connectivity limits operations at Kaduna Port – MD

The Managing Director of the Kaduna Inland Dry Port, Mr Salami Razak, has blamed poor rail connectivity for the inability of the port to achieve its full potential.

Razak stated this in a telephone conversation with The PUNCH on Sunday.

In March 2006, the Federal Executive Council approved the establishment of seven inland dry ports, each with a capacity to accommodate 165,000 twenty-feet equivalent units, to expand the country’s cargo handling capacity.

These facilities were concessioned to private sector operators with the expectation that they would enhance the country’s cargo handling capacity, especially in regions far from the coast.

Meanwhile, a report presented in August by the port’s economic regulator, the Nigerian Shippers Council, showed that only three of the seven ports had been completed, while the remaining continue to struggle with meeting their operational obligations.

“Out of the seven approved inland dry ports, only three have been fully completed and operational, which include Kaduna IDP, which has a relatively smaller capacity of 5,000 TEUs (twenty-feet equivalent units), Dala IDP in Zawachiki, Kano State with 20,000 TEUs and the Zanfarawa IDP in Funtua, Katsina State with 10,000 TEUs,” the report stated.

Recall that in 2024, the NSC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Railway Corporation to facilitate the movement of goods to and address the challenges hindering the effective rail transportation of goods from seaports to the IDPs.

However, giving an update on the activities at the KIDP, Razak disclosed that though activities at the KIDP have improved since last year, poor rail connectivity remains a major challenge.

“One thing that makes a dry port to be effective in today’s world is the rail movement of cargo from the seaport to the dry port. In that case here the rail has not been as effective as expected. So the mode of transportation from the rail angle has been down for now due to some technical issues. However, we have been able to move some of our cargoes through trucks,” Razak stated.

According to him, the only way IDPs can reduce costs is by moving cargoes through the rail because it will reduce the cost of transportation.

Razak mentioned that KIDP is losing 50 per cent of its supposed profit due to the poor functioning of the rail system.

“If you want to quantify the cost you have to look from different sides including the quantity of the cargo and the transport cost. But automatically, we are losing about 50 per cent of our profit to the rail system not functioning optimally. I assumed office in June 2024 and for the whole of 2024, we handled 5,000 TEUs of containers and we moved most of them by trucks,” he concluded.