The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Cargo Zeal Technologies Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Abdulaziz Afolabi, has said that his company air-freighted between 80 and 100 tonnes of cargoes during hajj before the COVID-19 pandemic.
His company is one of the two accredited cargo operators by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
In an interview with Muslim News’ correspondent, Alhaji Afolabi, explained that the pandemic affected their cargo business, including in terms of rate charged to air-freight cargo for pilgrims.
“We all know that after the pandemic, everything skyrocketed. The airlines increased their charges all over the world. That is the problem we are facing now. Before then (the COVID-19 pandemic), our cargo rate was about 16 to 17 riyals, but afterwards, the cargo rate went up. The government approved 20 riyals for us for the north, and 22 riyals for the south. However, as I came down to Saudi Arabia, I engaged the airlines and I was able to get a rebate and I have passed it on to the pilgrims to actually lessen their own expenses,” he said.
Alhaji Afolabi added that it was difficult to predict the volume of cargoes because that depends largely on the purchasing power of the pilgrims.
“For this year, there are two companies accredited by NAHCON for cargo operations. My company and one other company. It is very difficult to predict the volume of cargo. In a state, you know the number of passengers. Lagos State for instance has over 3000 passengers, but you can’t predict the number of cargoes like that. Sometimes, you predict high, but you don’t get as such. Sometimes, you don’t predict high and you will get a high volume. So, it depends on the purchasing power of the pilgrims.”
The MD/CEO revealed that Cargo Zeal started hajj and umrah operations in 2014, noting that the experience has been wonderful.
“For hajj and umrah, we started in 2014 as a subsidiary of our main organisation which started in 2000. The experience has been wonderful. There are always ups and downs. You know in business, sometimes you lose and (sometimes you gain). When we started, honestly, we had a huge loss but since our intention was not about making money, but about the contribution we are giving to the service of Allah, we grew (in the business). For now, we have been able to put our things in equilibrium.”
He also added that the company has a policy for resolving issues with missing cargoes of customers.
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