Nigerian Shipping Sector Struggles with Excess Dollar Charges
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Nigeria’s maritime sector is facing mounting pressure due to excessive dollar-denominated charges, a development industry leaders say is exacerbating economic instability.
Speaking at a press conference at the Lagos Yacht Club, Chairman of the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN), Boma Alabi, SAN, raised concerns over the persistent reliance on the US dollar for transactions within the sector. She argued that this practice was worsening the country’s foreign exchange crisis and depleting financial resources.
“Stop dollarising our economy,” Alabi urged. “Why are we collecting payments in USD in Nigeria? Why is the government allowing this? The shipping lines should collect in naira and source for dollars independently.”
Alabi, who also leads the Shipping, Shipping Agencies, Clearing and Forwarding Employers Association, highlighted the need to address the cost burden facing the maritime industry. She warned that the disparity between the naira and the dollar was one of the primary factors driving up costs in the sector.
Beyond currency concerns, she called for the expansion of Nigeria’s ports, arguing that competitiveness in global shipping would remain out of reach if operational costs remained prohibitively high.
Supporting her position, Ramesh Saraf, Deputy Managing Director of CMA CGM Shipping Company, noted that high port charges were discouraging shipping traffic. Comparing Nigeria’s ports to their regional counterparts, he pointed out that in 2024, Ghana’s Tema Port handled 1.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), while Nigerian ports processed only 1.2 million TEUs.
He also highlighted the struggles of the Lekki Deep Sea Port, which began operations in April 2023. “The cost of operation at Lekki is three times higher than at other global ports,” Saraf lamented, calling for urgent government intervention to ensure the sector’s sustainability.
As the maritime industry grapples with these challenges, stakeholders continue to urge the Nigerian government to implement policies that prioritise local currency transactions and reduce operational costs to keep the sector viable.
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