BUSINESS

Effective logistics is key to AfCFTA—-Otunba Akomolafe

&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The importance of the logistics industry cannot be overemphasized since it is a very vital factor in all aspects of national development&period; As long as there is a need to receive&comma; assemble&comma; transfer and distribute goods and services from one place to the other&comma; the place of transport and logistics will always be preserved&period; Millions of people and goods worth billions are moved by road&comma; rail&comma; air and water throughout the world and the safety and efficient movement of same are the concern of every stakeholder&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The above was  part of the welcome address by  the National President&comma; Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce&comma; NACC&comma; Otunba Toyin Akomolafe  at the Chamber’s November 2019 breakfast meeting themed&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;the Nigeria Logistics Industry&colon; Current Trends and Persisting Challenges” which  held at Lagos Continental Hotel&comma; Victoria Island&period; Akomolafe  admonished government relevant agencies and other critical stakeholders in the private sector to roll up their sleeves for  sustainable solutions to the challenges bedeviling the logistics sector&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">For an industry with Annual Growth rate of 19&period;5 percent&NewLine;according to Q1&comma; 2019 National Bureau of&NewLine;Statistics report and estimated Global logistics value of &dollar;357&period;5 billion by 2022&comma; Akomolafe&nbsp&semi; emphasized the auspiciousness of the&NewLine;breakfast deliberations saying&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;In the light of the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Agreement&NewLine;&lpar;AFCTA&rpar;&comma; and the significant opportunities it presents in various sectors&comma;&NewLine;especially for SMEs&comma; it is paramount that we revolutionise our logistics&NewLine;sector&comma; which is a huge obstacle to trade&comma; to maximize the benefits of the&NewLine;AFCTA&period; A stronger logistics sector could catalyse economic growth&comma; slash prices&NewLine;of goods and services and enable Nigeria to evolve into West Africa’s key trade&NewLine;hub&comma; if not the leading intra-African trading hub&comma;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">In concurrence with Akomolafe’s submission&comma; the guest&NewLine;speaker&comma; Dr&period; Olusola Obabori&comma;&nbsp&semi; Group&NewLine;Chief Executive Officer&comma; &nbsp&semi;RedStar Express&NewLine;Plc&comma; a global leading courier and package delivery company&comma; reputed for&NewLine;accurate&comma; real time and secured deliveries&comma; explained the company’s commitment&NewLine;to &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote; better customers experience” in view of &nbsp&semi;a better logistics service in the emerging Africa’s single economy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">He enumerated the company’s unassailable strength in Real time transportation&NewLine;and shipping tracking&period; On its part&comma; &nbsp&semi;the Director General&comma; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency&comma;<em>NIMASA&comma; Dr&period; Dakuku Peterside <&sol;em>stated&NewLine;that government&comma; under President Buhari&comma; &nbsp&semi;is addressing&nbsp&semi;&NewLine;security challenges associated with maritime operations &nbsp&semi;through the deployment of modern technology including internal and external multi&NewLine;agencies collaborations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The DG whose&NewLine;paper was presented by Bernard Awusa said &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Nigerian Maritime domain also&NewLine;falls under the role of the Agency&comma; in accordance with its cardinal objectives&period;&NewLine;This role is accomplished through its maritime security infrastructure called the&NewLine;Integrated National Maritime Surveillance and Security Project other wise known&NewLine;as the Deep Blue Project&comma;” he stated adding that &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The role NIMASA plays in&NewLine;optimizing safety in the Maritime Logistics Industry is vital to the protection&NewLine;and safety of the Maritime Environment&period; With the port and flag state&NewLine;inspections leading to a reduction in the risk of oil spillage and pollution of&NewLine;our waters&comma; and with the proper implementation and enforcement of SOLAS 1974&NewLine;and ISPS Code having led to the proper handling of cargo&comma; port equipment and&NewLine;increased security at the ports&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">He added that &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We still have a long road ahead of us to be a benchmark for global safety and security practices&comma; and with the milestones we have achieved we know that we are on the right track&period;” The single window security architecture&comma; he stated&comma; will completely minimize security challenges&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Share This
Openlife Reporter

Recent Posts

Africa’s Biggest Corporate Supporter Of Culture, Globacom,  Joins Ijebus To Honour Oba Adetona’s Legacies At Ojude Oba 2026

Africa's Biggest Corporate Supporter Of Culture, Globacom,  Joins Ijebus To Honour Oba Adetona’s Legacies At…

7 hours ago

Senator Ned Nwoko Points Out Traps On Tinubu’s Re Election Bid

Senator Ned Nwoko Points Out Traps On Tinubu’s Re Election Bid OpenLife Nigeria reports that…

2 days ago

How We Operated As NADECO During Military Regime—Segun Osoba

How We Operated As NADECO During Military Regime---Segun Osoba   OpenLife Nigeria reports that after…

3 days ago

Murtala Mohammed’s Disobedience To “Order” Led To Asaba Massacre During Civil War, The Awolowo’s Intervention — Gowon

Murtala Mohammed’s Disobedience To “Order” Led To Asaba Massacre During Civil War   OpenLife Nigeria…

3 days ago

Chairman Of KSAnalysis, King Solomon, Raises Alarm: ‘Unknown Individuals Actively Plotting Against My Life, Freedom, And Professional Standing’

Chairman Of KSAnalysis   OpenLife Nigeria reports that King Solomon, a respected professional football analyst…

4 days ago

This website uses cookies.