At a time Nigerians are lamenting the parlous of the economy occasioned by cash crunch, high inflation, the dollarisation of freight charges by some of the ministry and departmental agencies (MDAs) may further aggravate the already worrisome situation, the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MEMAN) has said.
The major downstream marketers who raised the alarm, said Nigerians should anticipate more challenges in the petroleum products distribution and supply chain going by the current foreign exchange market intricacies.
The Executive Secretary of the Association, Clement Isong made this known at a media forum organised by the association in Lagos.
Isong complained that the market and Nigerians will bear the final brunt of government policy that allows Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to collect charges in dollars.
He further noted that the complexities of the forex market uncertainty have stopped members from embarking on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol.
He said that it was not easy to put together a correct mathematical calculation of the product’s landing cost to further determine the appropriate pump price.
The Executive Secretary while sharing his members’ position on the present industry value chain conundrum said their investment was not fully protected with dollarisation of certain charges.
According to him, “The market and consumers are not immune to government policy that allows Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, continuous charges in dollars.”
He also, informed that though marketers receive products from Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Trading, ship-to-ship products offload is transacted in dollars all of which pushes up the cost of the pump price.
“We are presently concerned about sustainability, efficiencies, and affordability of energy for Nigerians and we are encouraging the shift to energy transition specifically into gas space,” the MEMAN boss stressed.
Giving further analysis, Isong said though the Federal Government has been faithful in its avowed intervention process since it exited the petrol subsidy regime, the dollarisation policy is weakening the industry and discouraging investment.
He placed the blame mostly on fluctuating dollar movement and the unpredictability of the rate.
For instance, he said marketers pay government agencies (NPA, NIMASA, etc) about $10 per metric ton, and given the current exchange rate would translate to a higher pump price.
