Investor Frustration Puts Nigeria’s Calabar Free Trade Zone Under Pressure

FTZ News: Nigeria’s customs service said it would tighten coordination with operators inside the Calabar Free Trade Zone after investors raised complaints about operational friction that has undercut confidence in the facility.

Acting Area Controller Nkeiruka Nwala met Friday with zone director Binta Saeed and other stakeholders, according to a statement released Saturday by area command spokesman Yireabasi Ukpong. Nwala told them the command intends to cut avoidable disruptions to legitimate cargo and improve day-to-day predictability.

“We recognise the concerns and challenges facing investors, and we are committed to addressing them through improved communication, cooperation, and adherence to established procedures,” Nwala said. She added that the priority is simply “to ensure that things are done the right way” so that coordination improves and recurring problems do not keep resurfacing.

Saeed said the meeting gave both sides a chance to walk through specific bottlenecks and look for workable fixes. She described the zone as still useful for manufacturing, trade facilitation and job creation, but noted that predictable rules and fewer procedural surprises matter if existing tenants are to stay and new ones are to come in.

Customs has not detailed which particular delays or clearance issues triggered the latest round of complaints. The zone, one of Nigeria’s older free-trade platforms, has periodically faced investor grumbling over security, power reliability and overlapping agency requirements, though those longer-running problems were not the focus of Saturday’s statement.

No timeline was given for any procedural changes. Officials said sustained contact between customs, zone management and the companies operating there would be the main mechanism for reducing friction./.