(Posted 14th June 2023)
Following the successes recorded at the 2022 conference, organisers of the annual Chinet Aviacargo Conference have announced 9th/10th August as the dates for the 2023 edition scheduled to hold in Lagos. The first and second editions of the event were acknowledged as milestones in the aviation and cargo sector with many successes flowing from them.
Notably, the communique from the second edition led to the creation by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) of an Aviacargo Committee to develop a road map to drive export and turn the country into a cargo hub. The theme for this year’s conference is: “Unlocking The Logistics Barrier To Improved Agro Product Exports.”
According to the organisers, Nigeria is largely regarded as an import driven economy with oil being the major export accounting for 96%. Last year, Nigeria recorded non-oil export earnings of $4.82 billion, an increase of over 39 per cent, according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Africa was the leading destination for Kenya’s exports in 2022, accounting for 41 percent of the country’s total export earnings. The agency said that the country’s total exports to Africa hit 2.62 billion U.S. dollars last year, with the East African Community (EAC) economic bloc accounting for 63.3 percent of the total exports to Africa.
Nigeria is about 1.6 times bigger than Kenya. Kenya is approximately 580,367 sq km, while Nigeria is approximately 923,768 sq km, making Nigeria 59% larger than Kenya. Meanwhile, the population of Kenya is 55.9 million people. Over 200 million people live in Nigeria. Nigeria’ export figure can be increased if the necessary policy, systems and infrastructure are put in place. Kenya currently is leading Aviacargo Airport in Africa.
Nigeria is the leading producer of many agro products but does not export much of these produces. It is believed that the challenge of Nigeria and most African countries is in the logistics problems between the farm and the airport. The need to unlock this barrier in other to improve and increase Agro Produce will be the Focus of Chinet 2023. This will help to ensure that Nigeria becomes a bigger export driven economy.
The 2023 Aviacargo Conference will be an instrument in moving the country to its desired objective of making Nigeria a cargo and export hub. It will further enlighten more farmers, Agricultural Associations, Government Agencies, Logistics Companies and other components in the sector on the plans/processes and right steps to take to meet International Best Practices and export more by air.
A lot of airlines still bring freighters fully laden daily to Nigeria and most of them fly out empty. There is therefore a need to reverse this dysfunctional scenario. Nigeria needs to export more and aviation should be the key to increasing exports. A lot of Nigerian goods get rejected abroad leading to huge losses but with the introduction of insurance, this trend can be reversed.
The 2023 conference, will also have major focus on: The Role of Insurance in unlocking this Logistics Barrier and Enhancing Seamless Cargo Export from Nigeria.
Why Is Insurance A Major Challenge For Nigerian Airlines?
How Can Insurance Aid Export In Nigeria?
How do we Create a Modern Cargo Infrastructure To Aid Export?
What is the Role Of Financial Institutions In Promoting Perishable Goods For Export?
How Do We Remove Impediments To Export and Improve Our Access And Market Penetration Globally?
How Viable Are State Cargo Airports?
These are some of the topics to be addressed at the 2023 Chinet.
To this end the third Aviacargo conference organized by ATQNews.com seeks to bring all potential Exporters, Cargo managers, Logistics firms, Airlines, Airports, Customs, Ground Handling Firms, Government Agencies and everyone in the Aviation and Cargo ecosystem together to help build on the successes already recorded so far and to enable Nigerians export more.
The Conference which will have an exhibition part will be broken into 3 Parts -Aviation, Cargo and Exports over 2 days. The organizers will also be honoring cargo companies that drive the industry in Africa at the African Aviacargo Awards. According to the organiser, Ikechi Uko, “we will be leaving the event with enough knowledge of the current Aviation situation in Nigeria and its role in growing the economy by driving bigger cargo export from Nigeria.
With this understanding of the cargo and export process, we can integrate our systems by networking and learning from each other as, problems shared eventually become problems solved”.
