Custom’s IT failure causes slow port clearance in Nigeria
A recurring server failure at Nigeria’s main ports has resulted in over $485 million worth of demurrage charges.
Importers and freight forwarders have incurred an estimated $485 million in demurrage charges because of an IT failure in Nigeria’s main ports.
The recurring server failure has resulted in slow customs clearance and Otumba Frank Ogunojemite, of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said:
“Looking at the number of vessels that arrive and multiplying it by the number of containers in the vessels, which is about 2,000, you discover we have paid over N200billion ($485million) in just two weeks of the server malfunction.”
Nigeria is mainly served by the Apapa and Tin Can Islands terminals in Lagos and the Seaport Terminal Operators Association estimates the computer glitch is costing the country upwards of $55 million a day in lost economic activity.
