Evaluation of Cargo Trends and Market Share of Import-Exportcargo Handled in Nigeria

Abstract

The importance of air cargo in facilitating global trade cannot be overemphasized, thereby contributing a high value despite low volume. In Nigeria, cargo handling is dominated by NAHCO and SAHCOL, yet existing studies focus on efficiency and infrastructure with little attention to long term import-export trends or market share dynamics. The study addresses the gap by evaluating the volumes and market share of cargo (imports and exports) handled by NAHCO and SAHCOL at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos over a 10 year period (2015-2024), Secondary data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and visualized with graphs and charts. Findings revealed the market share of imports of NAHCO and SAHCOL to be 51% and 49% respectively while that of their exports are 53% and 47% respectively. With respect to the relationship between imports and export cargo for each company, NAHCO’s import is 77% in relations to its 23% export.This indicates a growth rate of 7,899,139.69kg for imports and growth of 5,653,313kg for exports. SAHCOL import is 78% in relation to its 22% exports which also indicates a growth rate of 17,636,256.4kg for imports and growth rate of 13,362,389kg for exports. These results show a highly competitive environment with growing export performance for SAHCOL.The study also reveals that NAHCO consistently handles a slightly higher proportion of overall import and export cargo (51%) compared to SAHCOL (49%), indicating a near equal distribution of market share. The study also highlights fluctuations in cargo volumes over the years. It thus recommends strengthening export support policies, diversifying Nigeria’s trade flows and enhancing data sharing mechanisms to inform future planning.