The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, CRFFN, has said the growing presence of foreign logistics firms in Nigeria reflects deeper weaknesses within the industry.
The council said the issue should not be reduced to a debate over foreign and indigenous operators. CRFFN Registrar, Kingsley Igwe, made the position while speaking on concerns over increasing foreign participation in freight forwarding, customs brokerage and logistics.
Igwe said the development required serious policy attention, but warned against treating foreign operators as the main cause of challenges facing the sector. According to him, the growing presence of foreign logistics firms is largely linked to longstanding institutional and structural deficiencies within Nigeria’s freight forwarding ecosystem.
Igwe identified inadequate professional capacity as one of the sector’s major problems. He said Nigeria’s freight forwarding industry had struggled with weak institutional training, inconsistent regulatory enforcement and inadequate investment in human capital.
The CRFFN registrar noted that some countries had deliberately developed globally competitive logistics professionals through structured certification programmes and continuous capacity development.
Nigeria, he said, had yet to maintain a similarly consistent professional development framework. He argued that the gap had affected the ability of indigenous operators to compete effectively in an increasingly sophisticated global logistics market.
Igwe also identified inadequate capital as another major constraint facing indigenous freight forwarders. He explained that modern logistics had evolved into a technology-driven and capital-intensive industry requiring substantial investment.
Such investments, he said, included digital infrastructure, multimodal transportation systems, warehousing, project cargo management and integrated supply chains.
His position was supported by a retired Deputy Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Dera Nnadi, who also serves as a Trade and Maritime Customs Consultant. Nnadi said Igwe’s observation about the capital-intensive nature of the industry deserved serious consideration.
Nnadi argued that many indigenous operators had failed to prioritise reinvestment in their businesses. He said proceeds generated from freight forwarding were frequently diverted into ventures outside the maritime sector instead of being used to strengthen existing operations.
According to him, reinvesting earnings into logistics businesses could help operators expand their capabilities, develop human capital and improve their competitiveness. The stakeholders therefore suggested that addressing the structural weaknesses confronting the sector, rather than focusing solely on foreign participation, would be critical to strengthening Nigeria’s indigenous freight forwarding and logistics industry.
