Forex: Importers abandon consignments at ports

Forex: Importers abandon consignments at ports

Importers are abandoning their consignments at ports across the country, following devaluation of the Naira that has made it unprofitable for them to clear their goods. Disclosing this to Vanguard in Lagos, Vice President of Association of Nigeria Tyre Marketers, ANTM, Okechukwu Eze-Ifeoma, said the policy had led to the abandonment of millions of dollars worth of imported goods at the ports.

Eze-Ifeoma explained that the devaluation of the naira, which saw it move from about N200 in December to almost N400 at the time they came back from Christmas celebration, resulted in a huge loss to importers. He said: “From December till date, more than 80 percent of importers have not imported any goods because of the Foreign Exchange, FOREX, problem.

The goods you see coming out are the ones pending. “You can imagine some people imported based on N200 before going for Christmas and when they came back, what they heard is that dollar is now between N350 and N380. Some left their containers at the ports and ran away.

“What government is supposed to do in four years time, they are doing in their first year in office. First, let us have electricity; we can barely sleep at present. “We buy the idea of people looking inward, building factories and engaging in agriculture. But the truth of the matter is that there is no infrastructure.”
Source:Vanguard