FG Watches as Foreign Courier Firms Wreak Havoc

Nigeria loses twice as much in illicit financial outflows as it seeks to attract foreign direct investment in the postal and courier sub-sector, according to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations.

Much of the wealth from the industry estimated at some N350billion annually fails to flow to local and registered operators because of the activities of the foreign firms.

These unregistered foreign courier companies which outnumber registered ones, operate freely from their comfort zones where they receive or forward the illegal goods with ease.

Some of the foreign companies, often supported by some highly placed Nigerians and dishonest officials, exploit the lax regulation in the sector to maximize their profits.

There are reports of unethical practices including; breaches of agreement, non-payment of cost of clearance and delivery of shipments, transacting courier business with other courier companies without recourse to contractual agreement despite the fact that the franchise agreement is exclusive and non-transferable, among other issues.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that some Nigerians benefitting from the illegal activities have also intensified efforts to stall the passage of the Bill for an Act to establish the Nigerian Postal Service Commission and Other Related Matters; A set of all important documents touted as transformative for the postal industry.

Dr. Simon Emeje, assistant postmaster general of the federation and head of Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) of NIPOST, decried the growing trend.

Emeje told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that the CRD is stepping up efforts to track and clamp down on the illegal operators.

Nodding in agreement, Captain John Okpaku, managing director, ABX World, courier company and former country representatives of Aramex International Limited, one of the recently banned international courier firms, narrated how ABX World was shortchanged leading to lose of about $600 million in eight years.

Captain Okpaku alleged that Aramex was rnning underground businesses without ABX knowledge as the authorized representatives. He said ABX World had entered into franchise with Aramex International as a member of Global Distribution Alliance (GDA), but over time, realized that Aramex did not keep to its part of the agreement.

“We reported to NIPOST on several occasions on our plight. The truth of the matter is that we need an independent regulator to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria as far as courier business is concerned. He added, “Most of the fraudsters parading themselves as international courier firms have no respect for Nigeria and the business partners. In fact, they were bragging that they will continue to send parcels to Nigeria, probably through unscrupulous means, claiming they got their backs covered by some individuals in the country. It is a joint task for us to show them that we cannot be taken for granted.”