<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC-RGT)<\/strong> has cautioned that persistent regulatory gaps in port and shipping charges governance<\/strong> could cost the Nigerian economy between \u20a6500 billion and \u20a6700 billion annually<\/strong> and worsen inflation pressures, according to a policy memorandum submitted to the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy<\/strong> and the Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The memorandum, dated January 14, 2026<\/strong> and signed by SEREC\u2019s Head of Research, Dr. Eugene Nweke<\/strong>, followed widespread industrial actions and protests over recent increases in shipping line and terminal charges that disrupted operations at the Apapa port corridor<\/strong> \u2014 Nigeria\u2019s busiest container gateway. According to SEREC\u2019s assessment, these episodes exposed deep structural and regulatory weaknesses<\/strong> in port charges governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SEREC noted that even modest additional charges of between \u20a6150,000 and \u20a6250,000 per container<\/strong> could translate into an added burden of roughly \u20a6225 billion to \u20a6450 billion<\/strong> per year on the economy, costs that are ultimately passed on to manufacturers, importers and consumers. The group also warned that heavy logistics charges now represent 30 \u2013 40 % of total landed import costs<\/strong> for some goods, which acts as a \u201chidden inflation tax\u201d and undermines efforts to stabilise prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The memorandum highlighted that increasing logistics costs are associated with higher consumer prices, particularly for essentials like food, pharmaceuticals and industrial inputs, potentially adding 0.7 \u2013 1.2 percentage points<\/strong> to Nigeria\u2019s headline inflation each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SEREC also criticised reactive regulatory responses<\/strong>, arguing that interventions after disruptions signal institutional frailty and encourage recurring disputes. The group warned that without clear tariff consultation and approval frameworks<\/strong>, investor uncertainty persists and required returns on investment rise, which inevitably pushes up port service costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To address these challenges, SEREC recommended the institutionalisation of a binding national tariff review and approval framework<\/strong>, mandatory cost-justification disclosures by service providers<\/strong>, and establishment of a multi-stakeholder Port Charges Review and Mediation Forum<\/strong> to resolve disputes proactively. The group estimates that such reforms could reduce unjustified charges by 10 \u2013 20 %<\/strong>, yielding annual savings of \u20a6200 billion \u2013 \u20a6400 billion<\/strong> for the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SEREC\u2019s policy paper stresses that strengthening port charge regulation is not only an industry concern but a national economic priority<\/strong> critical to inflation control, trade competitiveness, and sustainable growth in Nigeria\u2019s marine and blue economy sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n January 14\u201315, 2026 \u2014 Source: ShippingPosition \/ Premium News Daily \/ PUNCH<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC-RGT) has cautioned that persistent regulatory gaps in port and shipping charges governance could cost the Nigerian economy between \u20a6500 billion and \u20a6700 billion annually and worsen inflation pressures, according to a policy memorandum submitted to the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and the Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1415,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413\/revisions\/1415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1413"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=1413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}