Frozen fish scarcity looms over CBN forex restriction

Frozen fish and other seafood may soon become scarce in markets across the country as a result of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s foreign exchange restrictions for the importers of the items.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that there had been no importation of the items since February and over 80 per cent of cold rooms, especially in Lagos, had been shut, while about 75 per cent of workers in the sector had been laid off.

It was also learnt that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture had issued permits to importers to bring into the country about 520, 000 metric tonnes of fish this year.

An importer, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the CBN listed fish and other seafood among items not valid for forex from the official interbank market, and requested that importers should raise funds from alternative sources.

The source said the CBN was refusing to sign the ‘Form M’ that would enable the importation of the items.

“Since February, nobody has received ‘Form M’ from the CBN; so, automatically, the allocation is useless. The industry is on the verge of collapse. Fish is not valid for forex and the CBN has also refused to approve the ‘Form M’ after we have sourced our funds from elsewhere,” the source said.

According to findings, almost every frozen fish consumed in the country presently is smuggled through the land borders, as most people, especially retailers, are currently getting their supply from Cotonou, Benin Republic.

Information obtained from the Nigerian Ports Authority’s daily shipping position indicated that between March and April 5, 2016, of all the vessels coming into the country, only one brought in frozen fish into the Lagos port complex; one in Port Harcourt and another one to the Delta port complex.

A cold room owner in the Oshodi area of Lagos, Mrs. Charity Iweala, told our correspondent that many operators in the sector had lost their jobs, while more were expected to lose theirs if the trend continued.

“The situation has worsened; cold rooms are empty and people are losing their jobs because there is no more work for them to do. I was one of the few people that got importation quota but we can’t import; no bank has opened ‘Form M’ for any fish importer for several months now,” she said.

According to Iweala, most of the fish imported into the country are sourced from the wild waters and cannot be bred locally.

It is estimated that the demand for fish in the country is about 2.6 million metric tonnes with a per capita consumption of 13.5kg, while the country currently has a total local fish production estimated to be around 600,000 metric tonnes per annum.

The immediate past Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, had at the inauguration of the Special Growth Enhancement Support programme, said the importation of fish was not a good business for the country given its huge natural resources.