NAHCO embarks on facility, equipment upgrade to boost Agric exports
The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) has embarked on a thorough facility and equipment upgrade in order to increase its stake in the agricultural value chain, particularly in the area of exports.
The company said it has expended over N2 billion to improve on these key areas of focus – equipment, facility, and processing of agro produce – with a view to maximizing the value of Nigerian agricultural exports.
Speaking at a Gateway Forum organized by the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC), the Group Managing Director of NAHCO, Mrs. Olatokunbo Fagbemi, said the company has recognized its importance in the Agric value chain, which prompted the upgrade of its warehouse facilities and equipment.
“One of our key areas of focus is exports. So one of the things that I as a person did not recognize was the importance of NAHCO in the Agric value chain and there’s so much that we have missed here. It’s something that we have taken up passionately and that we are pushing. And so to enhance that focus that we have, we had to look at our processes within our export warehouse.
We’ve also rearranged our facilities to be able to enhance safety and security to ensure that the foreign carriers are happy, and all the regulations are being met the way they are supposed to be met. The consequence of that is that we have passed all our audits and there’s more encouragement for Agric exports,” she said.
Some of the equipment acquired, according to her, includes bulk loaders, high loaders, Auxiliary Power Unit, bowsers, Tugs, among other ground support equipment.
She added that because of its focus on exports, another key area the company had adopted to drive forth its aim was to partner with state governments, airlines, and other stakeholders.
The partnership, according to her, was crucial to addressing pitfalls and other processing-related issues such as packaging and preservation of agro produce which, if not properly done, could make handling of the goods difficult.
“To now roll back on the other side where we are ready, one of the things that we are doing is that we are partnering with different state governments and stakeholders on how best we can push Agric exports… the source must know that if you don’t harvest or package in a particular way, even if you handle it, it might get destroyed, and that has been happening a lot.
So it was one of the meetings I had with one of the airlines. The airline discussed with me about maggots being in fish and they had to disinfect the whole of the aircraft. In my place where I come from when you have maggots in your fish, that makes it sweeter…but you know when that gets to Europe or America, that’s not what you see. What you see is an infestation and everything destroyed.
So we are passionate about that and we are looking for partners, that’s why we are talking to state governments to ensure that people understand how best we can up the value of Agric exports. We are doing that with enlightened self-interest, when more people get it right, more people will be in the business and, hopefully, more of them will pass through our warehouse,” said Fagbemi.
She attributed NAHCO’s financial performance for Q3 2019, valued at N241.3million, a 32.96% increase over the last year, to operational excellence, teamwork, facility/equipment upgrade and a working relationship with other agencies in the sector.
Fagbemi noted that the company was undergoing a growth process in phases. The first phase has seen equipment/facility upgrade, but in subsequent phases, the company will focus on real growth which will reflect in its financial margins.
She, however, lamented that there have been challenges in the area of cargo prices, but insisted that the company was more interested in quality service and enjoined stakeholders involved to find a soft landing on the issue.
“This year has been more of investments and putting things in place. Next year, we believe that we will be able to show some more growth. We will also consolidate and then by year three, we should be able to really show our growth.
We’ve been able to reduce our operational costs by being more efficient in what we do. We have our challenging moments now like right now we are trying to increase our cargo prices because we invested a lot and we are working with the agencies to ensure that we arrive at something beneficial, mostly for the shippers and the concessionaires.
So we have an agreement with the airlines and they (airlines ) have agreements with concessionaires and shippers. So it’s important that we fulfill whatever that is in the contract that we have with the airlines,” she said.
