The report details the results of a
study developed by socio-economic impact assessment firm QBIS which applies a
dollar value to direct and indirect costs of maritime corruption across the
private sector, government, and society in Nigeria.
Coercive
corruption, that is, officials demanding bribes for their routine duty-tasks causes
severe economic damage through ship delays and higher trade costs, besides endangering the wellbeing of seafarers and exposing them
and others to the risk of criminal prosecution.
In its business-as-usual scenario,
where all bribery requests are met without resistance, the study found
corruption adds $147,000 per import shipment of grain and more than $187,000
per shipment of petrol. Food and petrol account for around a third of Nigeria’s
imports.
“With
63% of Nigerians or 133m people classified as multidimensionally poor, most
Nigerian families do not have a budget surplus. Increased import costs due to
corruption are therefore likely to reduce their household demand and make
essential goods less affordable to the average Nigerian family,” the report
said.
The business-as-usual scenario adds
1-2% to retail prices for grain and petrol.
“Maritime corruption results in an
annual reduction in GDP of $204m, an annual reduction in revenue collected by
Customs of $42m, and 235,000 fewer Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs due to less
sales and economic activity,” the report said. A zero-tolerance approach to bribery during vessel clearance cuts the
damages caused by corruption by around 62%, the study found…
‘Saying No’ to maritime corruption, GDP
increases by about $130m annually, customs revenue from tariffs
increases by $28m annually, and more than 147,000 FTE jobs are created due to
more sales and economic activity across the supply chain in Nigeria,” said the
report.
MACN
said the combined efforts of industry and government have reduced corruption in
Nigeria.
Over 90% of corruption incidents are now resolved within 24 hours, it said,
whereas a single case took between seven and 10 days before 2019. The average
resolution time is now one to eight hours.
“Impressively,
98% of escalated incidents have been successfully resolved, and the remaining
2% have been escalated to authorities to clarify protocols,” said MACN.The full report The Cost of Maritime Corruption to the Industry and Society is available online.