NAGAFF inaugurates technical committee to assess ports concession

NAGAFF inaugurates technical committee to assess ports concession

By Udeme Clement

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, has inaugurated a Technical Committee to assess operations in the nation’s ports years after the ports were concessioned to private operators.

The inauguration exercise took place yesterday at NAGAFF headquarters, in Apapa, Lagos.

Speaking during the programme, the Founder of NAGAFF, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, who is important stakeholder in Nigeria’s maritime industry, explained that the Committee is set up to carry out fact finding details on ports’ operations in the country, with a view to ascertaining how the policies have impacted on economic growth and development.

His words, “It is a fact finding Committee. We want to find out whether concessioning policies of the ports have added any value to the concept of increased productivity in  Nigerian ports”.

Dr Aniebonam pointed out, “It is NAGAFF Technical Committee created to carry out overview of the success or otherwise of AP Moller in Nigerian ports concessioning policies”.

This is coming only few weeks after NAGAFF empowered the 100 % Presidential Compliance Team to begin monitoring of activities in the ports, in order to save trade and ensure transparency in the system.

Recall that in recent times, NAGAFF as the foremost freight forwarding association in the maritime industry, has expressed concern about activities in the nation’s ports, especially on concessionaires not complying with directives given by agencies of the Federal Government regulating operations in the ports.