Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi
The exportation of perishables is increasing, and has grown from as low as two per cent to about 12.5 per cent, representing over 10 per cent increase in the last one year, the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc has said.
According to NAHCO’s Chief Commercial Officer, Seyi Adewale, most of the exports go to the United States at 38 per cent; 34 per cent to the entire Europe; 15 per cent to Africa; nine per cent to Asia and two per cent to the Middle East.
He said, “Since we handle about 80 per cent of the cargo in and out of the country, this for us is large. Most of the shipments go to the United States, which has the highest percentage for export. Perishables like tomatoes, fruits and vegetables have grown and are still growing. Now, people are exporting yams and dry fish.
“People also export general goods such as non-consumables like our native fabrics, hair extensions; donkey skins among others constitute 88 per cent. A lot of our products exported to the US are consumables. Products like hair extensions are not in the US and if they are there, they are very expensive. So, people export things that Africans and Nigerians in those places use.”
Adewale however said that exportation was still challenged by the lack of a world-class warehouse.
“We have two X-ray machines and just to service these machines on a quarterly basis costs millions of naira and that is if there are no major repairs. This takes away a lot of the profit,” he said.
He said airlines were concerned about exports because of safety and security, and this made them conscious of the export facilities and processes.
Adewale said, “This puts us on the edge. In a month, we have at least two audits, some can be from the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority; and others are from airlines that we carry. This is to ascertain that whatever goes into the aircraft is not harmful or illegal.
“Another challenge is that because the business is growing and we need to expand, the little money we are making, we are putting it back into the same business. We just extended our acceptance section to another product packaging section so that we can decongest the export warehouse because of its capacity.”
He said packaging of products was another major problem that should be improved upon if the country must meet international standards.
“It is something we need to work on. But at NAHCO, our responsibilities are to accept, screen, put in the sterile area and load according to Load Controller Flight Instructions. Our services are limited to safety, security and appropriate aircraft loading. Packaging is done before the shipment is brought,” he said.
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