A few weeks after securing a buyer for a container of dried hibiscus bound for the United Kingdom, Mr. Iyiola, a Lagos-based exporter thought the hardest part of the deal was over.
The goods had been sourced, packaged and prepared for shipment. But before the container could even enter the port, the bills began to arrive.
First came the cost of processing export documents and obtaining the necessary certificates.
Then transportation costs climbed as the container made its way through congested roads to Lagos ports.
Freight forwarding charges followed, alongside terminal handling fees, inspections, container stuffing costs and multiple regulatory approvals.
By the time the shipment was ready to be loaded onto a vessel, the exporter had spent hundreds of thousands of naira before paying a single dollar for international freight.
His experience mirrors that of thousands of Nigerian exporters who say the cost of moving goods out of the country starts accumulating long before cargo reaches the port.
While Nigeria’s non-oil exports have grown significantly in recent years, exporters continue to grapple with rising logistics expenses, multiple layers of documentation and operational bottlenecks that add to the final cost of every shipment.
Exporters say moving goods through Nigerian ports involves multiple layers of procedures, documentation and logistics processes that continue to drive up the cost of shipments.
Frank Ogunojemite, President of the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders & Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), said exporters are affected by bottlenecks across port access, documentation, storage charges and logistics delays that increase the overall cost of exporting goods.
He said these inefficiencies have continued to weaken Nigeria’s non-oil export competitiveness despite ongoing efforts to improve trade facilitation.
In the freight forwarding space, Okechukwu Anthony Onyebuchi, Operations and Documentation Manager at Fortune Global Shipping, said export documentation is now centrally processed through the Lillypond Export Command in Lagos, where approvals are issued before cargo can access ports such as Apapa, Tin Can Island, PTML and Lekki.
He explained that exporters must still obtain approvals from multiple government agencies and undergo inspections before containers are cleared for shipment, with Customs and other regulators present during container stuffing and verification.
Export consultants also say that while the system is designed to improve compliance and traceability, exporters continue to face rising costs across documentation, logistics, handling and shipping processes.
Bamidele Ayemibo, Lead Consultant at 3T Impex Trade Center, said exporters incur costs across multiple stages of the export chain, including documentation, freight forwarding, port handling and international freight.
He added that freight charges for a 20-foot container to markets such as the United Kingdom and European Union currently range between €1,000 and €2,000, depending on destination and shipping arrangements, noting that this reflects only ocean freight costs and not the full export logistics chain.
The cost of exporting a container through Apapa in 2026 is not a single flat fee, but a combination of multiple charges accumulated across documentation, logistics, port processes and international freight. Each stage of the export chain adds a separate cost component, making the final expense dependent on cargo type, destination and handling requirements.
The first layer of cost comes from documentation and regulatory compliance. Exporters are required to process the Nigeria Export Proceed (NXP) form, obtain Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) registration and secure additional permits depending on the nature of the goods being shipped. The NXP processing fee typically costs about N8,000 per transaction, while other certifications vary based on product classification and regulatory requirements.
After documentation, exporters incur inland logistics costs as goods are transported from warehouses, farms or factories to export terminals. This stage is heavily influenced by fuel prices, road conditions, traffic congestion and delays along key logistics corridors leading to Lagos ports.
Freight forwarding services typically cost between N200,000 and N250,000 per container depending on service complexity.
At the port level, exporters pay terminal handling charges estimated between N100,000 and N120,000 per container, alongside container stuffing costs ranging from N130,000 to N150,000.
Inspection and certification processes add further costs, with inspection fees estimated between N100,000 and N150,000 per container.
Other documentation-related expenses such as certificate of origin, fumigation and phytosanitary certificates range between N25,000 and N40,000 depending on cargo type and export requirements.
Fumigation and phytosanitary certificates are specifically required for agricultural commodities, while NAFDAC and mineral-related certificates apply to processed food, pharmaceutical products and solid minerals.
International freight remains one of the largest cost components, with shipments to the UK and EU ranging between €1,000 and €2,000 per 20ft container.
Exporters are also required to pay the Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) fee, charged at 0.5% of FOB value.