Technologies Yet To Be Harnessed For Nigeria’s Air Cargo Improvement, Says Adewale
The Chief Executive Officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, Mr. Seyi Adewale says Nigeria has “not properly harnessed old technologies as at present, although there are attempts to upgrade, upscale, and new technologies with improved solutions such as user friendliness and more control.
In his presentation titled Harnessing Technological Advances To Improve Air Cargo In Nigeria, which he made during a panel session at the 5th CHINET AviaCargo Conference, Adewale said technology advances are critical to the three segments of the air cargo processes namely Airline – Ground Handling Company or Agent (GHA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other critical stakeholders such as Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN, Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarders In Nigeria (CRFFN) and the Regulator, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
He said these segments need to have effective, real-time, all-time communication
and/or reports with themselves to assure seamless, fast, and efficient service/ information to the end-user (consignee).
He identified objectives of technological advances as speed of service delivery to minimize handling error, efficiency-visibility for cargo movement, lower Costs, transparency and accountability and opportunities for fair competition.
Present day challenges according to him includes different airlines having different tech solutions used by ground handling associations that negatively impacts on costs,
manpower utilization, and overall efficiency in the air-cargo process, inadequate tech communication between primary segments in the air-cargo business (airline to customs, GHA to airlines, GHA to consignee), resultant higher charges to consignee such as demurrage, pass on running costs, higher running costs on airlines that need to have a retinue of ground staff to operate and manage some aspects of the ground handling process, or the inefficiencies.
Other challenges are that GHAs need to employ a higher number of staff to manage different processes evoked by the airlines because of technological lapses or inadequate or improper communication; Customs’ slower process of clearing or managing their tech platforms “What is the effective resumption time of a Customs officer in the CPC Unit?. I dare say from 10 a.m.!. Customs needs to improve effective work time. When a CTC officer resumes late, he has an agenda. He should resume 8:30am”
Another challenge is downtimes due to poor tech infrastructure support like electricity, backups and so on, and last mile user frustration.
Adewale offered solutions to these challenges. They include good electricity supply, including the use of alternative and varied energy solutions that assure a 24-hour electricity supply process as technology abhors energy downtime. He noted that B’Odogwu, newly executed by Customs, is a much user-friendly solution as it empowers or puts control within the Customs Service, unlike the use of 3rd party agents in its
management prior. “Effective training must continue for all staff therein,” he said.
To harness technological advances so as to improve air cargo in Nigeria. Adewale recommended that other 3rd parties, especially the airlines, should work with B’Odogwu and generate a Rotation Number easily, unlike before. “B’Odogwu allows reasonable
savings to the airlines because they no longer need to engage 3rd party agents to manage the interface with Customs. They can now generate a Rotation Number on their own. Also, they can now resolve issues on their own.”
“In my opinion, GHAs are overwhelmed with needless high staff numbers just to manage inefficiencies and the need to engage permanent staff to handle each airline’s own system because the tech solutions are either inappropriate, not properly framed and many have now resulted to only perfecting FFM and jettisoning the other needed information such as NFD, RCF, DI without working hard to get these needed information services to the airlines,” he said, adding that “GHAs need to get better tech platforms that have the capabilities to effectively transmit this information communication services to the airlines, in real-time and on time while Tally Clerks need to get information on time at the backend, and eradicate the needless strangulation from Supervisors and Managers who do not transmit the (FFM) information at the right time. I suggest GHAs have Official Tabs assigned to their Tally Clerks at the operational back-ends. Doing this will solve a lot of inefficiencies thereof. Flowing from the above, time and temperature sensitive cargoes will be better managed and planned for without consequent liabilities to Airlines and really GHAs.”
He recommend that “Customs should not only train all their staff in the proper use of B’Odogwu, BUT to go further to conduct periodic tests to confirm user competence.
Customs needs to resolve its Energy Infrastructure, wholly Likewise, to GHAs, noting that they in fact provide accommodation for Airlines. Customs needs to immediately overcome the present teething challenges in the effectiveness of B’Odogwu so that it does not appear to be a worse solution in the eye of the Public. GHAs to procure high-grade and robust Tech Solutions to manage their respective transmission needs without the exclusion of any information messaging to airlines and other parties. Airlines should allow GHAs to improve their Cargo Tech Platform without recourse to penalties when GHAs prove to be serious and invest in these better and more effective Cargo Platforms. GHAs need to procure high-grade operational Tablets for effective and immediate information dissemination to their Tally Clerks for effective and timely Planning purposes.”
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