Lawrence Enyoghasu
Former President of Small and Medium Enterprise Group (SMEG) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Jon Tudy Kachukwu, has said faullted six months export proceeds repatriation policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Kachukwu, who stated this in a press conference yesterday, lamented that he might not be able to meet up due to the delay of his shipments by Hapag Iloyd /GAC.
He lamented that the company informed him that they have a weekly vessel in Apapa port and would sail on July 24 but left on September 7, which is 45 days after. He added that he might be losing a sum of $115,000
Kachikwu appealed to the Ministry of Transportation to intervene as the delay is against the policy of the Federal Government to improve local infant companies, adding that his goods are likely to arrive its destination in late October causing him a chunk from his capital.
He explained that after he loaded his first container on July 22 to meet up with Hapag-Iloyd July 24 deadline but his container missed the vessel, Spyros V , then he sent the second container on August 6 and both containers stayed at the dock for 45 days.
“I was reliably informed that Hapag-Iloyd has a weekly vessel in Apapa, Lagos. The information was the driving force but with the turnout of the event, it appears to be a ruse. There are NXPS opened in respect of the two containers which the CBN expects my company to repatriate the export proceeds within six months, whereas the containers were held back. The goods might spoil because they were not properly refrigerated by exposing it to heat,” he stated.