Nigeria: Coronavirus Threatens N2trn Revenue Target From Maritime Sector

The federal government’s plan to generate the sum of N2trillion from the maritime industry is being threatened by the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), which has spread across continents, claiming thousands of lives.

Since the disease broke in China in December 2019, there has been a decline in the volume of import and export cargoes.

Consequently, financial analysts have predicted that there would be a corresponding drop in government revenue as federal agencies such as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Nigerian Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Agriculture Quarantine Services (NAQS) among others that generate revenue from authorising the release of cargoes, would also lose revenue significantly.

The federal government had given the NCS a revenue target of N1.5 trillion which the service has jacked up to N2 trillion.

The NCS in 2019 generated N1.341 trillion, thereby exceeding its target of N937 billion by N404 billion.

NCS also generated N1.20 trillion in 2018, but the outbreak of the coronavirus may make the N2 trillion revenue target, a mirage. NPA had in 2017 generated N299.56 billion and N118 billion in seven months in 2018. NIMASA in 2018 contributed a total of N22 billion to the Federation Account.

But, these revenue generating agencies, according to investigation won’t raise as much this year because vessels call into the seaports have reduced significantly due to fear of the spread of the virus.

Also, the level of imports arriving in Nigerian ports is gradually dropping while port calls to China are becoming less frequent. This is as a result of the fear of contacting the disease and a slowdown in the Chinese economy have deterred cruise liners, container ships, oil tankers and bulk carriers alike from stopping at the nation’s harbours.

Commercial vessels have equally stopped arriving, with port calls falling by an estimated 30 per cent in February, and container throughput estimated to decline by between 20 and 30 per cent, according to Clarksons, a shipping research company.

However, with more than 50 per cent of Nigeria’s import coming from China, many of country’s importers are now afraid to take cargoes from China, even as millions who usually travel during this period are canceling their trips.

Conversely, stakeholders described the coronavirus as a very big blow to Nigerian economy, because most of the country’s imports are from China, Hong Kong, and other Asian countries and presently, people are scared to take any consignment from China.

It was also gathered that China, the United States of America (USA), and India that are Nigeria’s major import trading partners with 31.34 per cent, 11.35 per cent and 7.49 percent of the country’s total imports coming from these countries, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) third quarter report.

The managing director of a Lagos-based clearing and forwarding firm, Gold-Link Investment Ltd, Tony Anakebe, said: “This situation is going to affect Nigerian maritime industry seriously because close to 50 per cent of imports into the country, especially machineries, raw materials and finished products come from China and other Far East Asian countries.”

He added that importers no longer travel to China to buy goods while the people already there before the outbreak of the disease are stuck because airlines are also cancelling flights from China due to rejection in destination airports.

Already, Coronavirus has spread to 90 more countries apart from China alarming public health authorities across the world. A total of 102,192 (including 80,651 in mainland China, 107 in Hong Kong, and 10 in Macau) confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection including 3,491 deaths (including 3,044 in China, 197 in Italy, 124 in Iran and 44 in South Korea.

Others are 12 in Japan, 17 in the US, nine in France, five in Spain, two in Australia and the UK, four in Iraq, and one each in the Philippines, the Netherlands, Switzerland, San Marino, Thailand, and Taiwan) have been reported across the world as of 07 March 2020.

FG Confirms Second Case of Coronavirus

Meanwhile, the minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has announced that a second case of coronavirus has been recorded in Nigeria just as he indicated that the federal government has committed over N1 billion to the containment.

Ehanire stated this in Benin City at a press briefing to give an update on the COVID-19 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).

He said that the new victim had contacts with the Italian who imported the disease to Nigeria.

The minister said that 40 persons in Ogun State and 20 others in Lagos State who had contact with the Italian engineer are still isolated and quarantined, adding that about N1 billion has so far been committed to monitoring and preventing the spread of COVI-19.

Ehanire said: “Contact tracing and monitoring in respect of the coronavirus index case at present receiving treatment in Lagos had been diligently and conscientiously pursued since the 27th of February when the case was first diagnosed. As you know, 40 persons in Ogun and 20 in Lagos are under isolation and have remained free of any symptoms since then.

“Nevertheless, the Federal Ministry of Health following best practices decided to test these persons for the possible presence of coronavirus in their systems. On 8th March, scientists confirmed the presence of coronavirus in one of the contacts.

“It is my duty therefore to announce the new case of coronavirus disease in Nigeria and the newly confirmed case is an Ogun State contact of the index case but he has no significant clinical symptoms. This brings the number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria today to two.”

PMB Sets Up C’ttee To Assess Impact On 2020 Budget

In view of the crash in crude oil price due the coronavirus scourge, President Muhammadu Buhari has set up a committee to assess the impact of the drop on the 2020 budget.

The minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed disclosed this to State House correspondents yesterday after a meeting with Buhari at the presidential villa.

She listed other members of the committee as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva, the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, and the minister of state for budget and national planning, Clement Agba.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the price of crude dropped to about $34 a barrel yesterday while Nigeria’s 2020 budget was done based on a crude benchmark price of $57.

According to the finance minister, it was very clear that the federal government will have to revisit crude oil benchmark price, pointing out that they may have to cut the size of the budget.

She further explained that the committee’s mandate is to do a quick examination of the coronavirus on the economy with respect to its effects on the crude oil price.

LASG Declares 2 Passengers Of Turkish Airlines Wanted

Also yesterday, the Lagos State government disclosed the names of the two suspected passengers of the Turkish Airlines, who flew with the Italian from Istanbul to Lagos on 24th February and declared them wanted.

The commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who disclosed their names as Enwelunta Obumnore Godfrey (male) and Salami Abiodun Sadeeq (male), said that the government was still in search of them.

Abayomi said: “We have tried to find the two passengers on the Turkish flight TK 625 and we are yet to find them. I appeal to the two individuals to reach out to the ministry.

“Please we need to contact you and you need to be in touch with the Ministry of Health. We have been trying to reach you by the address you put on your forms and by the numbers but none of those numbers are working. It is important that you reach out to us with the numbers that are generally available with the press, or to the Federal Ministry of Health or to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),” he said.
Source: Leadership Nigeria