Ignorance of the potentials of foreign trade, particularly import freight and insurance, has led the country to lose over N3.2 Trillion which could otherwise have being channeled to the development of the sector.
This view was view was expressed by the National Secretary of the Nigeria Ship Owners Association (NISA) prior known as Indigenous Ship-owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Capt. Niyi Labinjo, who said the nation loses about N3.2 trillion annually from inadequate application of its foreign trade policies.
Labinjo, whilst assessing the performance of the maritime sector of the nation’s economy ahead its 53rd anniversary, said the government seems ignorant of the role maritime could play towards national development and hence not fully exploited its potentials.
The NISA scribes noted that Nigeria loses over N1.2 trillion annually from freight on imported goods and N2 trillion similarly from insurance on such goods because of the present trade policy which states that all import transactions be done Free-on-Board (FOB) as against Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF).
While FOB means that all goods to be shipped into the country are valued with freight and insurance added to the actual cost, the CIF allows the buyer of goods to determine who ships and who insures the goods to be bought.
As a result, Labinjo pointed out in both instances of her import and her export to foreigners. He stated that the actual potentials to the country owing to a lack of understanding of the importance of the sector. He said no developed economy in the world has gotten to where they are presently without fully exploiting their maritime potentials and warned that the level of the country’s exploitation will determine how far it will develop.
Similarly, President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said government does not seem to recognize the importance of customs brokers to the customs brokers to the economy of the country. Shittu noted that the revenue collected by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) could not have been achieved but for the contribution of the customs brokers. He noted that most nations in the world depend on their maritime potentials for development.
