Shipping Company
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The Sea Empowerment and Research Center (SEREC) has accused shipping lines operating in Nigeria of engaging in sharp practices, claiming these actions are costing the economy hundreds of billions of naira annually. According to SEREC, Nigeria’s ports handle between 1.5 and 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually, with the Apapa port accounting for over 60% of container traffic. The think tank estimates that incremental and often unexplained charges of between ₦150,000 and ₦250,000 per container impose an annual burden of ₦225 billion to ₦450 billion on the economy.
SEREC’s White Paper highlights several alleged practices undermining trade facilitation and investor confidence, including prolonged withholding of container deposit refunds, remote cargo release authorisations issued from overseas offices, speculative demurrage billing, and unauthorised diversion of containers to alternative ports without shipper consent. These practices distort importers’ cash flow, raise financing costs, and create opportunities for abuse within the cargo clearance process .
The organisation contrasts Nigeria’s experience with global benchmarks in the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Singapore, where refund timelines, demurrage rules, and cargo release procedures are strictly regulated. SEREC raises governance concerns, alleging patterns consistent with regulatory capture, and warns that regulatory inertia, selective enforcement, and delayed accountability have created a perception that certain operators are effectively beyond regulation .
SEREC estimates that logistics-related charges account for as much as 40% of landed import costs, contributing up to 1.2 percentage points to headline inflation. When delays, demurrage, storage fees, and productivity losses are factored in, total economic losses could reach ₦700 billion yearly. The think tank calls for urgent policy and regulatory action, including statutory timelines for refunds with interest penalties, a ban on speculative demurrage billing, and mandatory local cargo release authority .
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has intervened in the matter, suspending contentious charges following protests by freight forwarding practitioners. However, SEREC argues that systemic regulatory weaknesses persist, with direct macroeconomic consequences. The organisation advocates for a standing mediation forum to resolve disputes proactively and enforce professional conduct standards to curb unlawful protest actions.
To address these challenges, SEREC recommends institutionalising a binding national tariff review and approval framework, with mandatory cost-justification disclosures by service providers. This could reduce unjustified charges by 10-20%, yielding annual savings of between ₦200 billion and ₦400 billion for the economy.
