The 15 percent ports tariff increase announced by the Nigerian Ports Authority on Thursday has sparked a fresh price hike nationwide.

DAILY POST reports that on Thursday, the Managing Director of NPA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, at an event in Lagos, announced a 15 percent port tariff increase.

He said, “This belated tariff review, borne out of necessity, constitutes a critical success factor in Nigeria’s quest to win back cargo handling business and its accompanying benefits, including job opportunities it had lost to its maritime neighbours.”

However, stakeholders in the sector said the tariff increase burden would be passed to goods consumed by Nigerians.

National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Mr. Ukochukwu Nnadi, said the 15 percent hike in ports tariff would lead to a rise in the cost of doing business nationwide.

“Definitely it will add to the cost of doing business because every kobo added to doing any particular thing, no matter what the thing is, will be passed to the customers, and the customers in this case are the stakeholders,” he stated.

This comes as Nigerians currently battle with high headline and food inflation rates, which stood at 34.80 percent and 39.93 percent, respectively.

Consequently, the latest NPA tariff is expected to trigger a further inflation spike in Africa’s most populous country, already faced with economic hardship.