The licensed customs agents at the Seme border said that 90 per cent of the drop in activities was due to a fluctuating CFA versus naira exchange rate.
This was disclosed recently by the Special Adviser to the President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Seme Chapter, Mr Godon Ogonnanya in Lagos on Tuesday, according to The PUNCH.
He said that activities were booming at the border crossing when the CFA was less than naira.
He explained that importation at the land border was usually more expensive because importers had to pay customs duties in the port of origin and on the Nigerian side of Seme.
“Trade activities have dropped by about 90 per cent but things are changing gradually. It is not something that can change overnight. The major challenge is the fluctuating rate of CFA. For example, today it would be N2,000 to one CFA, and tomorrow it will change to N,3000 against the CFA.
“The CFA rate is the reason activities are low here. In those days when the CFA was a little bit down, activities were much there but now that the rate has gone up, it is affecting the business. Because, after clearing at the border in Cotonuo, by the time you get to the Nigerian border the rate of CFA would now come up again,” he stated.
However, Ogonnanya expressed hope that things would gradually recover at the borders.
“The challenging thing is that what you would spend to clear the goods at Cotonuo Port for the Benin Republic government including the transport before you get to Seme to clear with the Nigerian government before the goods would be allowed into the country, all these add to the cost including the high rate of CFA and dollar,” he said.
Ogonnanya said that the recent policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, where the naira began to appreciate, was gradually normalising the situation.
“You know the mode of clearing in land border and seaports are not the same, we have our way of clearing here.
“People prefer to use the land borders because the land border is faster, your goods leave the border faster than in the seaport,” he noted.
A chieftain of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Mr Lasisi Fanu, said, “In Cotonuo port you pay to clear goods there and when you get to the Seme Border you would still clear the goods the way you do at Apapa, Tincan or any other port in Nigeria. That is the reason businesses are not flourishing here
“Because what we pay at Cotonuo Port before getting to Seme Border does not apply to any other ports in Lagos and that discourages importers. Because of this, activities in the border have dropped by 90 per cent.”
Recall that in 2023, the Controller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, announced that importers from Nigeria would soon be able to clear their goods from the ports of Cotonou, Benin Republic.
