Panalpina finishes Nigeria withdrawal

Around 300 former Panalpina staff have begun working for Worldwide Premier Logistics and Solutions Nigeria (WPLSN), following the closure this month of the international forwarder’s activities in Nigeria.

WPLSN began operating on 2 October to fill the gap in the market after Panalpina decided to pull out of the Nigerian customs clearance and domestic forwarding market (IFW, 4 August).

Panalpina said WPLSN had not become its agent for Nigeria, but expected some customers to choose WPLSN for their transport and forwarding needs in the Nigeria market.

A spokesman told IFW Panalpina was unlikely to re-enter the Nigeria market because of its "uncertain and hard-to-assess" legal environment, although it would continue to offer transport to Nigerian ports and airports.

"Our decision to pull out of Nigeria was certainly not a knee-jerk response, " he said.

"It was a very big operation. Panalpina was in the Nigerian market for around 50 years." At its peak, Panalpina had 750 staff in Nigeria. But following the start of an investigation by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Panalpina concluded it was impossible for an international freight forwarding company to do business in Nigeria effectively without breaching the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Sources said it was impossible to achieve customs clearances quickly enough to meet customers’ needs without the use of "facilitation payments" that broke US anti-corruption rules.

The spokesman said the DoJ investigation into Panalpina’s activities in Nigeria would hopefully be concluded by the end of this year.

Joel Agbebi, CEO of UK-based forwarder Alltradepost Express, told IFW that even a small Nigeria specialist company like his, led by a native Nigerian, was only able to do customs clearances in Nigeria by using a third-party local customs agent with close personal relationships with customs officials.

One third-party customs agent in Nigeria told IFW that the culture of corruption in Nigeria’s customs service would only alter if there was a change at the head of government.