Improving Nigeria-UAE Trade Relations

From all indications, trade relations between Nigeria and
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are facing some setbacks.

Market watchers, however, attribute the setbacks to factors
such as high import duty, import prohibition policy as well as absence of
national carriers in Nigeria’s maritime and aviation sectors.

One of the observers who are concerned about the state of
Nigeria-UAE trade relations is Mr Dennis Ilechukwu, the spokesman for UAE-based
Anambra Patriotic Forum.

He recently said in Dubai that Nigeria’s cargo clearance
policy was too strict, adding that the situation was compounded by its high
import duty.

Ilechukwu lamented that the situation explained the reason
why about 67 per cent of the goods destined for Nigeria from UAE usually found
their ways into Lagos through Cotonou, Republic of Benin, or into Katsina
through Niger Republic.

He particularly noted the import duty in Nigeria was quite
high, if compared to that of other African countries.

Ilechukwu noted that the Republic of Benin earned a
substantial part of its revenue via import duty generated at the Cotonou Port,
adding that many goods smuggled into Nigeria were brought in through the
Cotonou Port.

He urged the Federal Government to resuscitate the national
carriers in both the aviation and maritime sectors so as to reduce the freight
rates on Nigerian-bound cargoes.

“Nigerdock in Lagos is capable of building vessels and
Nigeria ought to have its indigenous shipping line resuscitated so as to make
freight rates cheaper,’’ he said.

Ilechukwu stressed that it cost between 2,700 dollars (about N432,000) and 3,100 dollars (about N496,000) to ferry a 20-foot container to Nigeria from UAE, describing this “as expensive’’, while affecting the flow of cargo into Nigeria.

“Apart from reducing import duty, government should review
the import prohibition list by lifting the ban on some prohibited items to
generate more revenue,’’ he said.

Ilechukwu noted that many people all over Africa were coming
to Dubai to buy shoes, clothes, furniture and other goods, saying that other
West African countries had been benefiting from Nigeria’s policy, which
outlawed the importation of certain goods.

Mr Emeka Ohakawa, the President of Imo Citizens in the Gulf
Region and UAE, stressed that cargo shipment rates on goods shipped from UAE to
Nigeria were more expensive than the rates on wares shipped from China to
Nigeria.

According to him, this is because UAE-based shipping lines
and airlines usually have nothing to transport back to the country when
returning from Nigeria.

“When airlines in UAE leave for Nigeria, they are usually
filled up with luggage but they often come back empty,’’ he said.

Besides, Ohakawa noted that the export policy of the Federal
Government had also discouraged exportation of goods like timber, groundnut,
cocoa, oranges, pineapples and other agricultural products to Dubai.

He stressed that the exportation of such goods to UAE would
have generated a huge foreign exchange for Nigeria.

Ohakawa said that a lot of agricultural produce like oranges
and pineapples were always coming into UAE from countries such as India and
South Africa.

He emphasised that the balance of trade between Nigeria and
UAE tilted strikingly in favour of UAE, adding that his association had been
striving to highlight the defect to spur the Federal Government to initiate
some remedial measures.

Ohakawa, who claimed to have lived in Dubai for over 17
years, said that Dubai remained a major tourist attraction in the Middle East
and the hub of business activities in the region.

He advised the Federal Government to establish a consular
office in Dubai to cater for the needs of over 2,000 Nigerians living in the
city.

Ohakawa, nonetheless, stressed the need for all Nigerians
resident in UAE to come together and form a viable central organisation, saying
that past attempts to form such a group to unite the citizens were often
politicised.

Mr Casmir Anachuna, another Dubai-based Nigerian
businessman, said that Nigeria ranked third among the nations importing goods
from Dubai, adding that Nigeria was next to Russia and Iran.

He noted that the low import duty regime of the UAE
government had stimulated huge imports from several countries into the country.

Anachuna said that Dubai was largely an import-dependent
city, having only one or two per cent locally manufactured products.

He, however, added that the UAE government maintained a good
quality control of imports coming into the country.

“Products brought into the country from China cannot be
compared to similar Chinese products in any African country in terms of
quality.

“With that, it might make products being sold here a little
bit more expensive than similar products found in the markets of several
African countries,’’ he said.

Anachuna said that wares in Dubai markets included
furniture, electronics, computers, jewellery, auto parts, lights and lighting
equipment, telephones, phone accessories, textiles and others.

He, however, said that what made Dubai a preferred business
location was its good security network and steady power supply.

Anachuna, who is a business consultant, expatiated that
security of a visitor in Dubai was guaranteed from arrival at the airport,
noting that all the hotels in the city were safe and under Closed Circuit
Television (CCTV) surveillance.

“For the over nine years I have been here, I only
experienced a power outage once,’’ he said.

Besides, Anachuna said that UAE had a strong currency,
adding that its exchange rate of Dh3.67 to a dollar had been stable for more
than 10 years.

He, however, conceded that business in UAE was currently at
low ebb due to the Ramadan period, saying that most shop owners in Dubai
usually opened their shops by 6.30 p.m. after breaking the fasting and closed
by midnight.

Anachuna described Dubai as the number one tourist centre in
the world, saying that the city, which had the highest number of five-star
hotels in the world, was also home to the world’s tallest building.

All the same, DP World UAE, the regional container terminal
operator, has commenced discussions with some investors in efforts to develop a
port in Nigeria.

Mr Abdol Reza, the Guest Relations Coordinator of DP World,
said that a Nigerian business delegation was in Dubai some months ago for talks
on some mutual business relationships.

Reza said that the firm, which currently managed two major
terminals in Dubai, would by 2014; complete the construction of the third
terminal in the country.

He described DP World as the third largest container
terminal operator in the world, saying that it controlled 60 terminals in 30
countries across the world.

Observers agree that Nigeria’s maritime trade will receive a
remarkable boost with the coming DP World’s investments in the country’s port
industry.

Ajayi writes for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Adeleye Ajayi