DHL has expressed optimism in Nigeria’s potential to become Africa’s major horticulture, fruit and vegetable exporter to Europe – especially London and Belgium.
According to Commercial Manager, sub-Saharan Africa, DHL Aviation, Abayomi Adetola, Nigeria’s potential will activate the unique opportunity to earn more non-oil foreign exchange.
Until last year, when Nigeria started to export vegetable products such as ugwu (Telfaria), water leaf (Talinum) and bitter leaf (Vernonia), the country has been not been exporting perishable products. Whereas in Douala (Cameroon’s largest city) alone, DHL picks nothing less than 60 onnes of fresh fruits and vegetables to Europe, Adetola explained.
“They export various types of pepper, ginger, cucumber, pine apples, banana flowers and vegetables. Cotonou sends more than 45 tonnes weekly and Accra 65 tonnes weekly. These are all-year-round,” Adetola told local newspaper, ThisDay in an interview.
Explaining the rationale behind exporting perishable goods from Africa, Adetola said, what DHL does is to “find ways of filling the near-empty flight.”
The perishable items, he said, contains, 80 per cent of what the airline put on its flight to Europe.
In Nigeria, Akintola said, “We’ve been moving around to see how we may get something to fill the flights, but, unfortunately, because we are an importing nation, we are unable to get anything.”
Adetola however said one of the major challenges of exporting from Nigeria is the issue of health certificate (Form A).
According to him, “Not much of health check is done on import from other countries as done on produce emanating from Nigeria. There is a particular certificate issue on produce coming from the exporting countries that we have not yet resolved. It belongs to the exporting country. Nigeria needs to address this as a country”.
“The airports in Nigeria are not yet developed for the exports of perishables. Imports into Europe therefore often get destroyed. Infrastructural issues such as cold rooms are yet to be developed for the export of perishables. The available infrastructure is only designed for imports.”
Another problem is the duplication of Handling Agencies. In Nigeria, Akintola said there too many agencies compared to other exporting countries.
“People that are going to sign your documents are up to six or seven, but in Accra and Douala, they are just about two. It increases the cost for the shippers and the time it takes to process. It ought to be a one-stop-shop thing. That is what they do in Accra.”
The DHL boss however said, he sees the prospect as bright for Nigeria, with government backing.
“If we are doing it individually, it will take a very long time for us to get to where we want to get to. Most airlines drop their cargoes here in Nigeria and go to Accra to pick fresh products, or to Nairobi to pick flowers. They burn fuel in going to these places. If they have something to pick from Nigeria, the prices will be lower. We will be able to compete favourably at the export market. It will create a lot of jobs for many Nigerians.”
He advised government to open up the market for people, ensure certification issues are addressed, and also ensure that the international airports have facilities for agricultural produce exports, not depending on the existing cargo facilities.
“In Nigeria, we can do better,” he said.
Agriculture is a major branch of the Nigerian economy – Africa’s second largest – providing employment for 70 percent of the population. The sector is being transformed by commercialization at the SMEs level.
Recently, Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture and the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) signed a $22 million finance package to procure 400 tractors for farmers under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement as part of its developmental strategy for the sector.
