From all indications, trade relations between Nigeria and
\nthe United Arab Emirates (UAE) are facing some setbacks.<\/p>\n
Market watchers, however, attribute the setbacks to factors
\nsuch as high import duty, import prohibition policy as well as absence of
\nnational carriers in Nigeria\u2019s maritime and aviation sectors.<\/p>\n
One of the observers who are concerned about the state of
\nNigeria-UAE trade relations is Mr Dennis Ilechukwu, the spokesman for UAE-based
\nAnambra Patriotic Forum.<\/p>\n
He recently said in Dubai that Nigeria\u2019s cargo clearance
\npolicy was too strict, adding that the situation was compounded by its high
\nimport duty.<\/p>\n
Ilechukwu lamented that the situation explained the reason
\nwhy about 67 per cent of the goods destined for Nigeria from UAE usually found
\ntheir ways into Lagos through Cotonou, Republic of Benin, or into Katsina
\nthrough Niger Republic.<\/p>\n
He particularly noted the import duty in Nigeria was quite
\nhigh, if compared to that of other African countries.<\/p>\n
Ilechukwu noted that the Republic of Benin earned a
\nsubstantial part of its revenue via import duty generated at the Cotonou Port,
\nadding that many goods smuggled into Nigeria were brought in through the
\nCotonou Port.<\/p>\n
He urged the Federal Government to resuscitate the national
\ncarriers in both the aviation and maritime sectors so as to reduce the freight
\nrates on Nigerian-bound cargoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigerdock in Lagos is capable of building vessels and
\nNigeria ought to have its indigenous shipping line resuscitated so as to make
\nfreight rates cheaper,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cas expensive\u2019\u2019, while affecting the flow of cargo into Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from reducing import duty, government should review
\nthe import prohibition list by lifting the ban on some prohibited items to
\ngenerate more revenue,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Ilechukwu noted that many people all over Africa were coming
\nto Dubai to buy shoes, clothes, furniture and other goods, saying that other
\nWest African countries had been benefiting from Nigeria\u2019s policy, which
\noutlawed the importation of certain goods.<\/p>\n
Mr Emeka Ohakawa, the President of Imo Citizens in the Gulf
\nRegion and UAE, stressed that cargo shipment rates on goods shipped from UAE to
\nNigeria were more expensive than the rates on wares shipped from China to
\nNigeria.<\/p>\n
According to him, this is because UAE-based shipping lines
\nand airlines usually have nothing to transport back to the country when
\nreturning from Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen airlines in UAE leave for Nigeria, they are usually
\nfilled up with luggage but they often come back empty,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Besides, Ohakawa noted that the export policy of the Federal
\nGovernment had also discouraged exportation of goods like timber, groundnut,
\ncocoa, oranges, pineapples and other agricultural products to Dubai.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the exportation of such goods to UAE would
\nhave generated a huge foreign exchange for Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Ohakawa said that a lot of agricultural produce like oranges
\nand pineapples were always coming into UAE from countries such as India and
\nSouth Africa.<\/p>\n
He emphasised that the balance of trade between Nigeria and
\nUAE tilted strikingly in favour of UAE, adding that his association had been
\nstriving to highlight the defect to spur the Federal Government to initiate
\nsome remedial measures.<\/p>\n
Ohakawa, who claimed to have lived in Dubai for over 17
\nyears, said that Dubai remained a major tourist attraction in the Middle East
\nand the hub of business activities in the region.<\/p>\n
He advised the Federal Government to establish a consular
\noffice in Dubai to cater for the needs of over 2,000 Nigerians living in the
\ncity.<\/p>\n
Ohakawa, nonetheless, stressed the need for all Nigerians
\nresident in UAE to come together and form a viable central organisation, saying
\nthat past attempts to form such a group to unite the citizens were often
\npoliticised.<\/p>\n
Mr Casmir Anachuna, another Dubai-based Nigerian
\nbusinessman, said that Nigeria ranked third among the nations importing goods
\nfrom Dubai, adding that Nigeria was next to Russia and Iran.<\/p>\n
He noted that the low import duty regime of the UAE
\ngovernment had stimulated huge imports from several countries into the country.<\/p>\n
Anachuna said that Dubai was largely an import-dependent
\ncity, having only one or two per cent locally manufactured products.<\/p>\n
He, however, added that the UAE government maintained a good
\nquality control of imports coming into the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cProducts brought into the country from China cannot be
\ncompared to similar Chinese products in any African country in terms of
\nquality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that, it might make products being sold here a little
\nbit more expensive than similar products found in the markets of several
\nAfrican countries,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Anachuna said that wares in Dubai markets included
\nfurniture, electronics, computers, jewellery, auto parts, lights and lighting
\nequipment, telephones, phone accessories, textiles and others.<\/p>\n
He, however, said that what made Dubai a preferred business
\nlocation was its good security network and steady power supply.<\/p>\n
Anachuna, who is a business consultant, expatiated that
\nsecurity of a visitor in Dubai was guaranteed from arrival at the airport,
\nnoting that all the hotels in the city were safe and under Closed Circuit
\nTelevision (CCTV) surveillance.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the over nine years I have been here, I only
\nexperienced a power outage once,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Besides, Anachuna said that UAE had a strong currency,
\nadding that its exchange rate of Dh3.67 to a dollar had been stable for more
\nthan 10 years.<\/p>\n
He, however, conceded that business in UAE was currently at
\nlow ebb due to the Ramadan period, saying that most shop owners in Dubai
\nusually opened their shops by 6.30 p.m. after breaking the fasting and closed
\nby midnight.<\/p>\n
Anachuna described Dubai as the number one tourist centre in
\nthe world, saying that the city, which had the highest number of five-star
\nhotels in the world, was also home to the world\u2019s tallest building.<\/p>\n
All the same, DP World UAE, the regional container terminal
\noperator, has commenced discussions with some investors in efforts to develop a
\nport in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Mr Abdol Reza, the Guest Relations Coordinator of DP World,
\nsaid that a Nigerian business delegation was in Dubai some months ago for talks
\non some mutual business relationships.<\/p>\n
Reza said that the firm, which currently managed two major
\nterminals in Dubai, would by 2014; complete the construction of the third
\nterminal in the country.<\/p>\n
He described DP World as the third largest container
\nterminal operator in the world, saying that it controlled 60 terminals in 30
\ncountries across the world.<\/p>\n
Observers agree that Nigeria\u2019s maritime trade will receive a
\nremarkable boost with the coming DP World\u2019s investments in the country\u2019s port
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
Ajayi writes for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adeleye Ajayi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s maritime and aviation sectors. One of the observers who are concerned about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49442\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}