Shipping Lines Sharp Practices Threaten Nigeria’s Single Window Project—SEREC
A scathing public white paper released today by the Sea Empowerment and Research Center (SEREC) has sent shockwaves through the maritime industry, alleging that Nigeria’s ambitious National Single Window (NSW) project is under direct threat from systemic sharp practices and regulatory capture by shipping companies.
The report, dated January 15, 2026, paints a grim picture of a port ecosystem where shipping companies operate with perceived impunity, siphoning hundreds of billions of naira from the national economy through opaque charges and deliberate operational bottlenecks.
According to the document authored by Dr Eugene Nweke, these practices are not merely sectoral inefficiencies but macroeconomic threats that contribute significantly to headline inflation and undermine the federal government’s Blue Economy vision.
According to Dr Nweke “Without reform, NSW risks becoming a digital overlay on analogue abuse, rather than a trade facilitation tool”
The white paper identifies a sophisticated array of tactics used by shipping lines to exploit Nigerian importers and freight forwarders, most notably the financial entrapment of withholding container deposits.
According to SEREC, Nigeria’s ports handle between 1.5 and 1.8 million TEUs annually, with Apapa accounting for over 60 per cent of container traffic. The organization estimates that incremental and often unexplained shipping line charges of between ₦150,000 and ₦250,000 per container impose an annual burden of ₦225 billion to ₦450 billion on the economy.
The report further claims that logistics-related charges now account for as much as 40 per cent of landed import costs, contributing up to 1.2 percentage points to headline inflation. When delays, demurrage, storage costs, and productivity losses are added, total economic losses could reach ₦700 billion yearly.
“Containers are diverted or stemmed to ports other than the contractual destination without shipper consent, with transfer and handling costs imposed retroactively.
“The financial consequences of this includes; Unplanned diversions impose unbudgeted costs often exceeding ₦500,000–₦1 million per container.
“Shipping lines routinely delay refunds (container deposits, overcharges) for 3–4 months or longer, depriving freight forwarders of working capital.
“In several reported cases, refunds belonging to compliant operators were withheld due to alleged infractions by unrelated third parties, a practice amounting to collective punishment.
“Idle refunds across the industry conservatively tie down tens of billions of naira annually, functioning as interest-free financing for shipping lines” SEREC says
While the NSW aims for transparency and automation, the white paper warns that the project risks becoming a digital overlay on analogue abuse.
With logistics charges now accounting for nearly 40% of the landed cost of imports, the burden is being passed directly to Nigerian consumers in the form of higher prices for essential goods.
