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How Omicron may affect Nigerian Importers

How Omicron may affect Nigerian Importers
How Omicron may affect Nigerian Importers

Just when the importation industry is about to fully recover from the Delta and SARS-coV-2 variants, another tragedy struck on the importation industry as another variant was discovered a couple of months ago. Recall that the borders of China were closed to the world in March 2020 due to the discovery of the Wuhan breakout. While the pandemic spread all over the world at a rather surprising speed, China closed its borders and went on full lock down. During this period, a lot of trade was put on hold.

While trying to put this article together, it was difficult to pin down the exact amount of dollars China lost during this period because there were different figures, however, what was apparent in all reports is that China lost a huge amount of money possibly totalling $300 Billion. 

How true is this figure? We honestly don’t know but what we do know is that China may take a while to recover considering that the country may consider going on lockdown again due to the OMICRON variant.

The emergence of the Omicron variant has added even more strain to maritime freight which is already experiencing a surge in prices. This will have direct consequences on business activities and continue to impact supply chains globally. 

According to the WHO, a lot remains unclear about the new omicron variant. For example, it is still not clear whether Omicron is more transmissible compared with other variants such as the Delta variant and SARs-coV-2. Also, it is not clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared with infections with other variants.

What this means for Nigerian Importers

As at the time of writing this article, China is currently on New Year holiday. Although trade was active before the country went on holiday, considering that there are whispers of China going into lockdown, we do not know for sure what may happen. We advise that Importers should prepare ahead for the unforeseen circumstance which may be as extreme as lockdown. If factories begin to open for work, importers should place orders as soon as possible inorder to get it shipped on time because we do not know for sure if the borders may be closed.


News has it that a second Chinese city, Yuzhou, is currently on lockdown following Xi’an’s lockdown since the 23rd of December. With more cities being forced into lockdown, this means that the importation industry should brace up for potential lockdown as more factories and major ports adopt the zero-covid policies.

So far, the effects of the lockdowns on Chinese factory production and deliveries has been limited. Four of China’s largest port cities — Shanghai, Dalian, Tianjin and Shenzhen — have imposed narrowly targeted lockdowns to try to control scattered outbreaks of the Omicron variant.

If extensive lockdown is effected, the supply chain industry will feel another blow as prices of goods may surge and freight prices may surge too. Transportation costs will skyrocket, cost of warehousing may also increase and there might be delays in goods delivery to Nigeria.

Manufacturers are watching carefully to see whether more factories and ports in China might be forced to shut down if Omicron spreads in the coming weeks.

As your trusted supply chain partner, we are observing first hand and we will give you updated information about this in the coming weeks.