Coup Threatens $180m Nigeria, Niger Republic Cross-border Trade

 

by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed.

The trans-Saharan road corridor borders seven northern Nigerian states – Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe, and Borno. This is a vital trade route for Nigeria, connecting the country to its landlocked neighbours in the Sahel region.

However, the Zamfara/Sokoto command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said over 2.5million metric tonnes of export cargoes have passed through the Illela border, Sokoto State, into Niger Republic in the last six months.

According to data obtained by LEADERSHIP, commodities that are mostly transited through the corridor are Cement, Tobacco and Coal, with each truck usually carrying 1000 tonnes.

Speaking exclusively with LEADERSHIP Sunday, former executive secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barr Hassan Bello, said 30 percent of Nigerien transit cargoes pass through Nigeria borders to Niger Republic.

According to him, the leadership crisis in the landlocked country will bring a setback to gains recorded by Nigerians to make use of its ports and trade corridors to deliver their cargoes.

Bello further noted that Nigeria is closer to Niger Republic than other African countries, saying Nigerien Shippers’ do incur additional cost by routing their cargoes through other neighbouring country than Nigeria.

He said, “It’s been our hope to have bulk of Niger Republic cargoes and the Nigerien Shippers’ have started believing in Nigeria’s ability to make the process seamless. Niger has its cargoes ship to Cote D’Ivoire, Benin Republic and some other neighbouring ports, and it doesn’t make economic sense because of the proximity and the affinity between Niger Republic and Nigeria.

“As a matter of fact, the Kano-Maradi rail line and the Dala inland dry port were all efforts by Nigeria to capture that transit cargoes, and the Customs are our partners as they have made some trade facilitation concession so that Niger Republic will transport cargoes. But the unfortunate incident may temporarily disrupt that plan. I think in the long run, there will be peace and there will be normal relationship. That is why war is destructive of international trade.”

Speaking on the tonnage, he said, “I know the tonnage is substantial and we ought to have captured all of it but maybe about 30 percent of transit cargoes move from Nigeria to Niger Republic currently”.

Also speaking, president of National Council of Managing Directors of Licenced Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, said that the closure of the border has security implications, which he cannot comment on.

“For some time, Nigeria has been removed from the transit nations. We don’t even know if that transit has started. Negotiating transit is not an easy thing because we still have encumbrances when it comes to factors that limit our countries to these landlocked countries. I don’t know if those areas have been rectified,” he added.

He said it is an economic issue because Nigeria has been delisted from the list of transit nations, adding that negotiating for transit status would be an economic avenue to pursue.

“In a real sense of it, if it is done, it is going to affect Nigeria’s place in the transit nation. Transit module is not in persistence yet in the country. Ghana has its transit that is satellite driven while Nigeria’s own is still manual. Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have an edge over Nigeria. Becoming a transit hub is more than making noise about it,” he said.

https://leadership.ng/coup-threatens-180m-nigeria-niger-republic-cross-border-trade/