The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Nigeria has given reasons why it is more feasible to establish a national carrier in the aviation sector than it is to establish a national shipping line in the shipping sector.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos, the National Executive Director, CILT Nigeria, Mr. Paul Ndibe recalled that at the time Nigeria had its own national shipping line, all the ports were under the direct ownership of the Nigerian Ports Authority wondering which of the terminals the national shipping line would be devoted to if it is established.
In his words,” Are you going to devote it to the Dangote terminal or the ENL or the Maersk Line or the ABTL? Start with the terminals, those terminal operators already has their target market even though they pretend they are looking for markets in order to grow but they cannot grow where they are very uncertain about the permanent interest of the government in investing in national shipping line.
“The Lekki Deep sea port is still coming up but they have contracted Maersk and another shipping company to run it for them because there is absence of national shipping line. So, that is a terminal. So, what I am saying is that the size of the terminal and the level of technology there will determine the level of ships that that terminal can contain. Nigeria has not stepped into re-establishing its own national shipping line, so that decision will indicate even the choice of the terminal that they are even going to partner with but such decision has not been made.
“When the decision is made, they can now start ordering ships and the size of the terminals that can accommodate it. So, that is a big a challenge and that challenge is much more than floating a national carrier in the aviation sector because it is even cheaper to construct an airstrip than constructing a railway line or even a road”.
He pointed out that this was so because on 1,000 meters of airstrip, one can land as many planes as possible and use them properly and then they can take off and land at the next airport unlike connecting a road with the bad terrain to a particular end.
“So, it is even cheaper in terms of present statistics to invest on the aviation sector than to invest even on the road and the railways. So, these are the challenges the government is facing and government will look at funds available to it and then look at other investors who will want to partner with it along that path. And if you want to partner with them, what is the equity ratio, what are you bringing to the table. So, they are looking at their funds and the security of their funds and government has to base its decision on that and except that decision is made, there is no meaningful thing that one can expect from government.
“But generally speaking, it will be easier for them to first establish the national carrier before the national shipping line because Nigeria is losing heavily. The travel pattern is tilting more to the aviation sector and we are losing in that market, this is even the best time to invest because following even what Africa Development Bank said, majority of African Airlines are weak in terms of infrastructure even their planes are getting older.
“So, they are beginning to renew their planes, not even that they are renewing, they are buying new ones, maybe from a particular pool of fund. So, it is even better for Nigeria that does not have a load, so they can now use such fund to acquire fresh planes and establish their national carrier whether on a Public Private Partnership or to go solo. So, it is even advantageous for Nigeria to do that now”, he said.
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