Shippers’ Council, International Trade Centre partner to facilitate cross- border trade

To resolve challenges faced by cross – border traders and facilitate trade, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has expressed willingness to support the International Trade Center (ITC).

ITC is a co-implementer under the ECOWAS Agricultural Trade Program which aims to improve intra regional agricultural trade at border crossing points.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the NSC headquarters in Lagos on Friday,
Associate Program Officer, ITC, Richard Eke- Metoho, who led the delegation said the visit to the Council is part of the team ongoing study to identify areas for improvement in trade facilitation, particularly at border crossing points.

He highlighted the importance of collecting data from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, which manages a border information center at Seme-Krake border.

According to him, some of the identified challenges faced by traders and truck drivers using the Seme-Krake border, a key trade route is the number of checkpoints and lack of scanners.

He said information collected by the team will not only identify existing trade facilitation measures that are working effectively but also lead to the development of new trade facilitation measures that address the challenges faced by traders.

He said, “We are here to collect experience from the Nigerian Shippers Council.

“From our interactions with the Shippers Council, we keep finding similar problem faced by traders most especially on the number of checkpoints and scanners that are really needed especially for transporters and truck drivers.

“It is still an ongoing study. The more information we collect right now, the more it will help us to make more informed decision process. At the end of the study, we will be able to develop a report that will pinpoint all the main obstacles that traders are facing.”

In his remarks, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Pius Akutah
emphasized that trade facilitation is a major initiative of the Council and pledged to provide the necessary support to ensure the success of the study.

He noted that the study will strengthen the Council’s ability to formalize informal trade at border areas, gather statistics, and plan for trade volumes.

The focus of the study is on agricultural products, which Akutah highlighted as a significant area of potential for Nigeria, not only in the African region but also globally.

He expressed optimism that the study will help develop skills and improve operations at the Border Information Centre managed by the Council.

“Trade facilition is one of the major aspect of what we do so we are going to give you the necessary support to achieve the success that is desired.

“The study will help us to plan and develop more skills in terms of what we do at the Border Information Centre. Shippers Council is a partner and I want us to take our partnership to the next level that will focus on engagement with our stakeholders, ” he said.

General Manager, Operations, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners ( NARTO)  Okafor Stephen, lamented that there are about 57 checkpoints along  Mile 2 to Seme border.

This, he said has given rise to extortion by non state actors and government security officials along the Seme border road.

“These are part of the things that delay movement of trucks and again lengthy  clearing of cargo by customs is also part of the barrier. I hope that with this meeting, ITC and GIZ will continue to work towards surmountng this problem to ease trade, ” he said.

Photo caption: 

Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Pius Akutah (3rd from left) and the International Trade Center ( ITC) delegation led by Associate Program Officer, Richard Eke- Metoho ( 2nd from left) when the team paid a courtesy visit to the NSC headquarters in Lagos on Friday.