World Bank rates Nigeria fourth in Global Trade Logistics in West Africa

The World Bank has ranked Nigeria in fourth position among West African countries in its Global Trade Logistics Performance Index (LPI) for 2016.

Leading the pack of success for the sub-region was Cote D’Ivoire, with Senegal coming second, while Sao Tome came third.

Though Nigeria left Ghana to the fifth position, it is still seen as a poor performance, judging from Nigeria’s logistic strength in some sectors, including shipping and air businesses, which had seen the country lead in the World Bank’s assessment in 2014, topping the list in, 2012 and 2013, but coming second in 2014.

The World Bank, in its latest assessment format for 2016, took cognizance of the peculiar challenges that most developing countries passed through in the past two years leading to 2016, but stated that 10 countries were able to beat the hurdles to be in the positions that they found themselves in the year under review.

Some of the yardsticks the World Bank used in assessing the countries included: efficiency in clearing goods at the sea and air ports, in which Cote D’Ivoire scored 3.4 out of 6.

In general logistic competency, that country had 3.2, followed by Senegal and Sao Tome with 2.59 and, 2.48 average-points, respectively.

Read also: World Bank, AfDB may soon approve Nigeria’s $3.5bn loan facilities –Moody

In the overall logistics competence in West African, the first five countries, including Nigeria scored above average of 3,42 in the six key dimensions.

Other criteria were: efficiency in tolearance process; quality of trade and transport related infrastructure, ease of arranging competitively priced shipments, among others.

But it was in the utility of electronic means of tracking and delivery of cargoes and examination that most of the countries did not do very well.

However, Comrade Jude Ashafa, the vice president, Customs Licenced Clearing Agencies, said:”The inability of the Nigerian government to retain its old system of clearing goods, which had made Nigerian ports lose the hub of ECOWAS sub-region, must have played some negative roles in undermining Nigeria’s former records in the sub-region, if not Africa as a whole.”

Other commentators were of the opinion that with the recession said to be getting over, Nigeria would soon begin to regain most of its lost glory.

 

RipplesNigeria ….without borders, without fears

Click here to download the Ripples Nigeria App for latest updates

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now