CPPE urges support for Shippers’ Council to strengthen maritime sector regulation

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has urged stakeholders to support the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) in becoming a stronger and more effective regulator of the maritime sector.

Speaking at the 2024 annual seminar for maritime journalists organised by First Mediacom Network Limited in collaboration with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in Lagos on Wednesday, Dr. Muda Yusuf, Chief Executive Officer, CPPE, emphasized the need for a strong regulation in the maritime sector, which he said is plagued by monopolistic practices hindering fair competition.

Yusuf noted that the current regulatory framework is weak, leaving consumers, investors, and port users vulnerable to unfair practices.

His words, “When you have a sector dominated by monopolies, you don’t have much choice. You don’t even have a choice of where your container will go. So, we are at the mercy of these monopolies. What can you say to a consumer when there is competition? But there is no competition in this place. So it is only a strong regulator that can protect the consumers, that can protect investors, that can protect the port users.

“So it’s very important that we support the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to become a very strong and effective regulator. That’s extremely very important.”

Yusuf also advocated for policies to support indigenous investors and protect jobs for Nigerians in the sector.

He lamented that the Cabotage Act set up to protect indigenous shipping companies has not been effectively implemented as indigenous investors continue to lose their jobs due to foreign dominance.

“There has to be a deliberate policy to support our indigenous investors in the maritime sector. Jobs that can be done by our own people should be preserved for us.

“We need to save maritime sector jobs because we are losing the jobs in the maritime sector by the day. We are importing a lot. We are exporting a lot. Our indigenous people cannot be spectators in their own economy. It’s not right.

“Whether it’s clearing, whether it’s shipping, these jobs are been taken away. There must be a policy to protect indigenous people in each sector. It’s very important.

“We cannot sit by and all the jobs in maritime are being taken away . I’m not saying that we don’t need foreign investors. But they can go to areas where we don’t have capacity.

“We have capacity to do clearing. We have capacity to move things. Why must people come in from all sorts of places to clear a cargo here? It’s not acceptable.

“Can you go to Cotonou as a Nigerian and start to clear cargo? You can’t. And many other countries like that.
Let us have a framework to protect our own people, the indigenous investors and to encourage them. We have the Cabotage Law, but I don’t know what we have made of it, ” he said.

Yusuf also criticized the high import duties and exchange rate challenges faced by importers.

He called for a review of these policies, which he said have led to diversion of cargo and smuggling.

“We are losing a lot of jobs because the domestic policies are tough. Sometimes the import duties are too high. Then you have this problem of exchange rate for the clearance of cargo.

“They say it’s because of the customs acts. But it’s human beings that make the law so we can’ review it.

“How can you be using 1,600, 1,000, sometimes up to 1,700 to compute import duties. That’s why things are so expensive. And people have invested in the port. We are losing money because of some of these policies. So please as maritime reporters, let us elevate the level of conversation and bring these issues to the forefront, ” he said.

Meanwhile, the CPPE boss has called on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to improve its data collection and reporting on the maritime sector.

Yusuf lamented that despite the sector’s contribution to the economy, there is no significant reporting of maritime sector contribution to GDP by the NBS.

“I’ have challenged the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics. If you look at the GDP report, there is no significant reporting of maritime sector contribution to GDP. The only thing you see is water transportation.

“Maritime is beyond water transportation. Sometimes they put 0.05 percent contribution. Sometimes it’s even zero,” he said.