Nigeria loses N3.2trn annually to transport inefficiencies — Expert

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By Providence Ayanfeoluwa

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There are indications that Nigeria loses N3.2 trillion annually ($4billion) to transport inefficiencies, including gridlock, poor modal integration and logistics fragmentation.

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The Chairman of Global Transport Policy (GTP), Dr. Oluwasegun Musa, said this in his remark at the 2026 Annual GTP conference in Lagos.

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He said that the country’s logistics cost as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stands at over four percent compared to a global best practice of under 1.5 percent.

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Musa noted that road transport accounts for nine per cent of freight and passengers, while rail moves less than one percent. He added that this imbalance inflates costs and emissions while road traffic fatalities exceed 12,000 deaths and 70,000 injuries per year respectively.

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He stated further that only 18 percent of transport agencies have fully digitized workforce planning.

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“We face a skills gap of over 200,000 trained logistics multimodal professionals such that without deliberate investment in institutional capacity and human capital no technology or infrastructure will deliver results.

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“We must move from Ad-hoc training to certified continuous workforce resilience”, he stated.

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In his presentation, Mr. Onoruoiza Onuchi, Chief Operating Officer at GTP, said that intra-African trade currently sits at 15 percent to 27 percent of total trade compared to 60 percent in Europe and 40 percent in Asia.

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He posited that logistics costs in Nigeria are estimated at 25 percent with freight logistics and inefficiencies reaching up to 45 percent of total trade value compared to 5 to 10 percent in more efficient markets.

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