A 15% TARIFF increase for all port charges has been authorised by the Nigerian Federal Government.
During a stakeholder engagement in Lagos state on Thursday, February 6, Abubakar Dantsoho, the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), revealed this information.
According to Dantosho, the purpose of the tariff rise is to guarantee infrastructure improvements and competitiveness.
He said, “The 15 per cent upward increase, which is to cut across all NPA Rates and Dues, is premised on the urgent need to address the undesirable reality of aged and weak Infrastructure, obsolete equipment, and slow Port capacity expansion, which has continued to diminish the performance and indeed competitiveness of Nigerian Ports.”
Dantsoho asserts that the authority was driven by the need to modernise Nigerian ports to match those of its counterparts in terms of equipment and infrastructure
He was represented by Olalekan Badmus, Executive Director of Marine and Operations, who pointed out that the agency has kept tariffs the same for more than thirty years despite major economic shifts, such as inflation, rising salaries, fuel and lubricant prices, and changes in the currency rate.
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He said that to continue carrying out their duties, which include building and maintaining port infrastructure, dredging channels, providing aids for safe navigation, providing modern marine craft for effective harbour services, automating and digitising port transactions, port security, energy efficiency, and employee training and retraining, port authorities around the world rely on operating revenue.
According to maritime experts, to attain efficiency, the NPA need funding for upgraded port infrastructure, tugboat purchases, and other operating platforms.
Asanga said that for more than three decades, liabilities such as gasoline, salaries, and other expenses have been increasing without a corresponding increase in non-performing assets (NPA) charges.
