Host of the Gbadjémè show on Capp Fm, Wednesday 29 August 2024, the president of the Association of Young Customs Declarants and Agents of Benin (AJDMDB) largely returned once again to the difficulties of freight forwarders in the exercise of their activities. While welcoming the reforms introduced in the sector, President Salami Marouf highlighted the key ills that have undermined the sector since the advent of reforms.
The crisis between Benin and Niger has worsened the situation. For the port actor, the crisis between the two countries does not help traders, importers and by extension freight forwarders. Since the advent of this crisis, all the actors in the chain suffer martyrdom. He showed that this crisis has completely undermined port activities, in particular the sector in which it operates.. According to him, freight forwarders were already faced with the throes of disruption reforms and unfair competition from certain people. He also took the opportunity to once again denounce the online sale of deposited products., a reform that the stakeholders hardly approve of. Salami Marouf estimated that despite the wishes of customs officers, there are always bottlenecks that cause their efforts to be drowned out. Among these difficulties, he noted offices that do not even have eclectic power or office supplies to work properly. “All these dysfunctions delay work and performance”, he hammered.
However, he awarded a satisfaction to the head of customs depot who spares no effort to respond to their requests against all odds. He also denounced the scammers who fraudulently use the photos of certain customs officers experienced in the task for ulterior purposes.. The inter-park routes, he will say, “are degraded, and have not been developed ».
In sum, the President of the Association of Young Customs Declarants and Agents of Benin (AJDMDB), while thanking the Head of State for his efforts to reveal Benin through the port of Cotonou, will urge him to listen to the whining of freight forwarders that certain authorities inevitably want to bury. For Salami Marouf, the port of Cotonou can still play the leading roles in the sub-region. He is still confident and hopes that the Head of State will involve his association for concrete proposals.
Arnaud ACAKPO (Coll)