Nigeria may have lost as much as $600 million in crucial foreign exchange and customs revenue over the past three decades through the unregulated sale of temporary import shipping containers by foreign shipping lines, according to findings by trade experts.
Okey Ibeke, principal consultant at International Trade Advisory Services, who presented the data while speaking to the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN) spotlighted Grimaldi Agency Nigeria’s “illegal” planned sale of over 2,500 empty containers priced in dollars as the most recent FX casualty if allowed to happen.
According to him, the structure of the transaction as reported in the media prices a 40-foot container at $2,000 and $1,600 for a 20-foot unit, with payments routed through domiciliary accounts, which runs against ongoing efforts by authorities to curb dollarisation of domestic transactions. Grimaldi has not refuted these claims.
Leaders of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the Africa Association Of Professional Freight Forwarders And Logistics (APFFLON) have openly opposed the sale, describing it as “economically disruptive” and undermining “financial sovereignty.”
Ibeke, however, insisted the debate misses the fundamental issue that the action itself is illegal and flouts regulatory requirements.
