There is an urgent need for better regulatory framework, unification of policies and the establishment of good infrastructure to spur the logistics sector of Nigeria and help it serve its rightful purpose of making commerce and life in general easier.
In this article, we will explore Nigeria’s logistics landscape, including some of the challenges, and opportunities while highlighting how we at Expedite Movers can help you.
1. Infrastructure Deficiency: One of the primary challenges facing the logistics industry in Nigeria is inadequate infrastructure. Roads, ports, and railways are often in poor condition, leading to delays, increased costs, and damaged goods.
2. Regulatory Hurdles: Complex and inconsistent regulations can be a major hurdle for logistics companies in Nigeria. Navigating these regulations, including customs and import/export restrictions, can be a time-consuming and costly process.
3. Security Concerns: Security issues, such as theft, piracy, and vandalism, are prevalent in certain regions of Nigeria. This poses a significant risk to the safe and timely delivery of goods, especially in the northern and coastal areas.
4. Lack of Transparency: A lack of transparency in the logistics process can result in inefficiencies and disputes. Many logistics providers struggle to provide real-time tracking and status updates for shipments, leading to customer dissatisfaction.
Nigeria’s transport network is largely in a state of disrepair due to inadequate investment over the decades, economic and population growth, and ineffective policies and plans.
For instance, Tin Can and Apapa ports in Lagos continue to suffer from inadequate cargo handling equipment. This results in expensive delays, and when goods are eventually cleared, absence of rail connectivity results in them having to be hauled over poor and congested roads to the northern and eastern parts of the country.
These factors often result in accidents, breakdowns and further delays. All are detrimental to the economy.
Such ineffectiveness is in spite of a series of national transport policies. Reforms were initiated in 2003, 2008 and 2010. These paid some attention to the possibility of intermodalism – ensuring trucked goods are moved on to rail or water, and back to truck for final delivery. These reforms also considered privatisation and public-private partnerships. However, none of these policies and reforms made a significant difference.
In the face of enormous infrastructure deficit, operational inefficiencies, port congestion, extremely cumbersome cargo clearance processes, high cost of transportation, non-compliance, and huge competency gap across several industry verticals, the Nigerian logistics industry has also had to grapple with the economic consequences of the post (covid-19) pandemic era.
For the average logistics industry player, certain performance considerations can be key to their competitiveness, and important steps for cushioning the effects of the current economic situation. Better success may however be achieved based on the following:
Nigeria has a terrible road network, one of the worst in Africa, which is one of the biggest problems plaguing last-mile delivery in the country.
In Nigeria, quick delivery is difficult due to the many challenges with road and traffic issues, especially in major cities like Lagos, which is one of the most congested in the world. Commuters spend a minimum of 3 hours in traffic daily, and for a logistics business, this translates to less productivity and increased operational costs. Traffic congestion and a bad road network have remained the biggest pain points in logistics management, because, beyond increasing operational costs, they nullify delivery estimates and predictions, breaking the system flow of deliveries and leading to dissatisfied customers.
The logistics business in Nigeria is promising and one of the fastest growing industries in Nigeria. It is an important aspect of living because there is no individual or country that produces everything they need. As such, there is still need for exchange and logistics bridges that exchange gap. It is a sector that we cannot do without. The future of the logistics business is huge because of the large population and the potential growth of the middle class.