By  Naomi Uzor
The Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has frowned at the recently introduced Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) levy, payable in foreign currency by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

In a parley with Journalists recently, the National President of NACCIMA, Dr Simon Okolo, said that CTN is inimical to private enterprise and harmful to the economy and does not add any value to the cargo delivery processes in any way, yet the levy adds an estimated 20 per cent to cost by the Nigerian importers annually.

“The shipping companies already have cargo tracking mechanism for all cargoes on their vessels. The bill of lading provides a comprehensive documentation on cargoes being brought into the country or leaving the country.

Besides, shipping companies submit shipping manifests, a summary of all bills of lading, to all relevant government agencies, including the NPA. The Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has responsibility for maritime security. We therefore wonder why the NPA should introduce CTN” he stated.

Regrettably, he said, the federal executive council has been misled into approving the policy which is neither in the interest of investors, nor consistent with the vision of the Nigerian economy, adding, that at a time when businesses are grappling with high operating cost conditions, it is worrisome that the NPA could introduce a levy which is difficult to justify.

According to him, the CTN will increase the cost of all imports coming into the country and ultimately the cost of goods and services in the country, logistics of a single agent covering shipment locations all over the world is overwhelming and would inevitably lead to delays, it will worsen the problem of delays of the issuance of shipping documents and other related documents such as risk assessment report and it will worsen the incidence of cargo diversion to neighboring countries.

On the proposal to review electricity tariff, Okolo said, NACCIMA, in principle, may not oppose this move because they believe is necessary to attract private sector investors to the power sector, but urged the government to ensure that power supply to Nigerians improve tremendously before implementing this proposed increase of electricity tariff.

“The proposal should be so cautiously done in view of the reality of the current harsh operating environment for businesses in the economy. By encouraging private sector investors in the power sector, operational efficiency would be guaranteed and this would bring succor to the industrial capacity utilization which has been on the decline for many years with contribution to GDP of less than 5 per cent, to agricultural sector which is still basically at the subsistence level and the mining sector that has virtually stagnated. Many of these sectors are operationally energy intensive sectors” he said.