Olaolu Oladipo 
Mallam AbdulKadir Moshood is the chief executive officer of MMI Global Logistics Limited. In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, he talked about the operating environment in the shipping, freight and haulage sector. Excerpt:
When did you start your business?
As a business concern, we began operations in 2023 after completing the necessary processes of business incorporation and licensing of permits from relevant government agencies and organisations relating to our area of operation.
What has been the journey so far? Have things met your expectations?
As a business concern, I can say that we started our business activities before 2023. Like I said before, we are deeply into providing logistics services to our numerous clients. Before we started out fully, we had a company that we used for logistic haulage services. We later started veering towards clearing and forwarding services in 2023. Ever seen then, things have been on the upward swing. It has been somewhat challenging for us too in the journey. In all, we have to give thanks to God Almighty for the modest achievements that we have so far made. We have been getting and renewing licenses for the various companies under our business portfolio. Dealing with the manpower as well as all other aspects of the job has been extremely challenging too. So far, we have recorded so much success as far as what we do is concerned.
What kind of challenges have you faced and how have you surmounted them?
So far, there have not been so many challenges in the area of export consultancy services. We have continued to render expert advice to our clients in that arena but with regards to our operations in the clearing and forwarding segment, we have been confronted with some form of challenges here and there. We are having some challenges in meeting the number of volumes of trucks required for our operation. We are also having some teething challenges in the shipping segment which we are gradually overcoming. The issue of demurrage is what we usually confront with in the clearing and forwarding segment. We are also being tasked in the area of service pricing and most times, not all the hikes in prices do we take back to our clients. Many of such have been borne by us as a means to retaining and maintaining our clientele. That segment has attracted additional costing and I can say that it has not really been positive for us. I dare say that we are gradually getting over it too.
Has there been any significant change in your operations since the advent of the President Bola Tinubu-led government?
Yes! There has been a general increment in the operational costs to our businesses since the coming of the current government in 2023.
Apart from rising costs, has the change been generally positive or negative?
There have been some numerous policy inconsistencies since the government came on board. These have been in the shipping line policies. You see one policy today and see another one tomorrow. All these affect our operations and they have continued to affect us so much. This is the major challenge to our operations.
What about taxation from various arms of government?
So far, we have been tax compliant since we started our operations. Despite the difficult operating environment, we have not allowed our debt and taxes to pile up. From 2023 to this time, we have been up to date with our tax commitments and obligations to relevant authorities. These taxes are very huge but so far, so good.
In what way do you think the government can assist you as a businessman playing in the logistics and freight services sector?
Government intervention in terms of assistance can come in two ways in the clearing and forwarding agency. One, we need funding because there are so many components of our operations that need funding. You need to do the job before you are being paid. This makes us require capital funding that will assist us. The other way that the government can assist us is to try to make the shipping lines comply with the necessary policies. Government needs to make the shipping lines soften their principles that make our operations very difficult to carry out. For instance, the number of freebies that they give to shippers will be increased. Sometimes, when their network is bad, the shipper ends up carrying the burden. The network might be unstable for about five to six days. They will still charge us for demurrage saying we are not clearing our goods on time. This is one of the situations that we are contending with. We want the government to make operations easier for all stakeholders.
Where do envisage that the logistics, freight services sector will be in 30 years time?
I am optimistic that in the next 30 years, our sector is going to be very big and significant enough. The import and export segments will be so big that they will contribute significantly to the country’s economy. I am envisaging that in 30 years the export segment will stimulate and expand the Nigerian economy significantly. I also hope that the logistic sector will be big too.
