The car market in Cotonou is arguably the largest
automobile market in West Africa as it thrives on
Nigeria’s mega population. Many Nigerians have
resolved to buying their cars from this market due
to several challenges inherent in getting a good
bargain within our fatherland. I recommend that you
consider the following advantages and
disadvantages before buying your first or next car
through the Cotonou route:
automobile market in West Africa as it thrives on
Nigeria’s mega population. Many Nigerians have
resolved to buying their cars from this market due
to several challenges inherent in getting a good
bargain within our fatherland. I recommend that you
consider the following advantages and
disadvantages before buying your first or next car
through the Cotonou route:
ADVANTAGES
1) Level of honesty: This market welcomes you
with a lovely aura and a serene environment which
gives you the opportunity to explore without being
exploited by those guys who always claim “nah my
brother get the car”. The Cotonou dealers would
calmly communicate the prices of their vehicles to
you and they will not hassle or compel you to buy
from their lot. Obviously, they are not over
desperate to sell and this significantly reduces the
extent to which they cheat their clients. However,
this does not mean you should be gullible and fall
for what they want you to believe as they also roll
back mileages and refurbish several accidented
cars, but they will hardly sell a registered car to you
as tokunbo like our brothers at Berger would.
2) Cleaner cars: The car dealers in Cotonou can
afford to buy more cars that are not accidented
because they do not bare any import duty cost as
the import duty is paid to the Government by the
buyer after the car is sold by the dealer. Hence,
they have a reasonable amount of cars that are not
accidented and the accidented ones are usually
repaired by professional panel beaters and painters.
3) Relatively low import duty for high-end cars:
Several luxury and recent cars that are considered to
be high-end are usually brought into Nigeria through
the Seme land border due to reduced duty. A major
reason for the reduced duty is the fact that Benin
Republic’s Government charges a fixed import duty
(500,000 CFA = 320,000 Naira) on all cars
irrespective of its year or trim. Furthermore, the
import duty at Seme border is less than Apapa and
Tincan port as charges that accrue to shipping
companies are waived, basic import duties are
usually lower and smuggling is easier. I remember
counting over 100 Landcruiser and Prado jeeps that
came into Nigeria the only night I slept at Ilaro
town about 2 years ago.
4) Varieties: If you want to get tired of seeing cars,
Cotonou car market is the place to be. You will be
overwhelmed by the unlimited number of cars
spread over the vast expanse of land. Do not make
the mistake of doing your search by foot as those
that move around the market on motorbikes still
complain of being exhausted.
5) Market localization: This eliminates the stress of
driving across a whole state or an entire city in
search of a car as most of the cars are located
within close proximity to one another.
DISADVANTAGES
1) Difficulty to run a VIN check: This will not be an
issue if you have internet data on your phone.
However, it is a major issue for so many people
who make payment for cars without having
information about its flooded history or rolled back
mileage. I inspected some cars in Cotonou 3 weeks
ago and only realized that the one we liked the
most had its mileage reduced from 258,000 miles
to 125,000 miles. Thank God we went back to
Seme border to get network to run the VIN checks.
2) Relatively high import duty for cheaper cars:
There is a myth that all cars from Cotonou are
cheaper than cars which are cleared via Lagos
ports. This is actually false especially in the case of
cars that are relatively old. e.g a 2003 Toyota
Camry is usually cheaper if imported through Apapa
sea ports as against routing it through Cotonou
because you would pay double duty to two separate
Governments in the latter.
3) Nigeria Customs’ palava: Customs’ issue is the
king of all the challenges you can face when
bringing your car into Nigeria from Cotonou. The
issues ranges from vehicle seizure to exploitation. I
do not hope for my enemy to experience this as
those Custom guys are not smiling no matter who
you are or who you know. They even seize vehicles
that belong to their fellow custom officials as well
as that of top military officials. The simplest way to
save your car from being seized is by using a
reliable and trustworthy agent and ensuring your car
is taken into the Nigerian Customs’ compound at
the border for proper duty assessment and
payment.
4) Restricted movement: Most Nigerians who
successfully bring in cars with compromised import
duty from Cotonou usually count their gains at the
time of purchase. However, this excitement fades
away quickly as they begin to watch over their
shoulders especially when travelling interstate.
Some even travel without their cars due to fear of
custom officials.
5) Possible damage when vehicle is in transit: A
typical example of penny wise is when you save
some bucks by bringing your car in from Cotonou
but the cost of damage sustained to your car is
commensurate to or higher than the anticipated
savings. Some car crossing agents who smuggle
cars without the owner’s consent still had a
shootout with custom officials a few weeks back.
My verdict is for you to only bring in your car from
Cotonou if you have a trusted hand who will not
smuggle/fly your car and ensure full import duty is
paid after proper assessment at the custom’s
office.
What is your verdict on this pertinent issue?
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