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Border Closure: Manufacturers lament loss of market share
By Modupe Shodeinde
The President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mansur Ahmed, has said that the border closure has led to the daily loss of market shares by members.
According to Ahmed, manufacturers of beverages, polypropylene bags, tobacco, cement, toiletries and cosmetics industries were losing markets they had worked very hard to secure in the West and Central African region.
He added that export of their products had now become less competitive in the region.
In a statement on Friday, he said these manufactures had plans to leverage their market share to secure a strong position in the African Continental Free Trade Area, which kicks off in January 2021.
According to Ahmed, a research conducted with the members of the association since the border closure, had shown that “the export group of the association clearly suffered huge losses due to logistics issues occasioned by the closure”
He explained that it takes an average of eight weeks for the carriers to ship and truck goods within countries in the same region vis-à-vis trucking through the land border, which takes an average of seven to 10days.
“Furthermore, the increased traffic through our sea port as a result of the closure has increased the perennial congestion at the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports leading to greater challenges to exporters and increased demurrages cost and other port levies.” he added.
The association said it was important to review the status of the border closure, as this was in line with the core objective of the AfCFTA protocol.
