[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he nation’s current FOREX regime worsened by the recession is taking its toll on volume of vehicles imported into the country and so having negative effects on the Nigerian Ports.
The Operations Manager, Ports and Terminal Multiservices Ltd., Mr. Jack Angrish, who gave the indication to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday, stated that the unstable and high cost of the dollar over the Naira has discouraged “vehicle trade as many vehicle seats remained empty.”
According to him, “Vehicle imports have reduced from 30,000 to 6,000 in the last six months with the attendant problem of loss of jobs by terminal officials. Many vehicle seats are empty and this is the last quarter of the year.”
“It is very unfortunate,” PTML Manager lamented, “that the loss of Nigeria in terms of revenue on vehicle imports has continued to be the gains of the neighboring ports,’’ adding that while Nigeria continues to suffer from car smuggling, Ports of Cotonou (Benin Republic) and Lome (Togo)have continued to rip the benefits.
Angrish, therefore, advised businesses to begin to look inward and improve on available resources and opportunities so that Nigeria could be insulated from unexpected fluctuations of the dollar.
“This is the time for vehicle business operators to pool their resources together to facilitate domestic manufacturing,” he added.
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