There are many storage facilities of varying size, security and quality nationwide. In the Port area of Lagos and food market city of Kano, reliable storage suitable for food is easily located. In the Ports of Warri and Port Harcourt, which are predominately used by the oil and gas industry, storage for Non Food Items (NFI) is plentiful, however it may be more difficult to obtain storage suitable for humanitarian food stocks.
National capacity meets current needs and there is additional capacity if required for surge demand, however where there is increased demand as a result of humanitarian interventions, prices rise considerably for storage space of all types.
Private commercial storage is easily accessed, obtaining Public Sector storage is problematic due to bureaucratic constraints.
Commercial Storage
Storage for food and NFIs is available year-round.
Location |
Owner |
Available for Rent |
Capacity (MT / m² / m³) |
Type |
Access |
Condition [3] |
Port Harcourt |
Aboviph Nig. Ltd |
Yes |
1800 m2 |
Open storage |
Accessible and close to Port |
excellent |
Maiduguri |
KAGA NO 2
|
No |
25,000 mt |
Open storage |
Accessible by road |
excellent |
Storage Used by Humanitarian Organizations
Major humanitarian organizations use leased warehouse space to store their relief goods and contract management of these facilities to service providers such as John Snow Inc.
The largest of these organisations include UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO (medical supplies), WFP (food), Red Cross (emergency relief items).
Forward logistics capacities – to support cooperating partners storage needs in the deep field locations, WFP has established temporary storage facilities to facilitate commodity receipts and prepositioning especially in hard-to-reach locations. Currently, there are 25 mobile storage facilities of over 7,000 mt capacity spread across 13 locations in Borno and Adamawa states. Some of these facilities were established in line with the IHP/IOM hub expansion plan. Some of them have been set up inside or adjacent to the humanitarian hubs.
Location |
Organization |
Sharing Possibility |
Capacity (MT / m² / m³) |
Type [ |
Access |
Condition |
Lagos |
Chellarams Plc (WFP, UNICEF) |
Yes |
3000 m2 |
Open storage |
Accessible |
Good |
Port Harcourt |
Chellarams Plc (WFP) |
Yes |
550 m2 |
|
36 mins drive/22 km from the Onne/PHC port facility. Accessible
|
Good |
Damaturu |
Gujba Road Warehouse (WFP) |
Yes |
15,231.5 m2/3000 mt |
Closed storage |
Accessible |
Good |
Maiduguri |
Pioneer WFP |
No |
11,000 mt |
Open storage |
Accessible by road |
Good |
Maiduguri |
ICRC |
No |
200 by 300 m2 |
Open storage |
Accessible by road |
Good |
Maiduguri |
IMC |
No |
450 mt |
Open storage |
Accessible by road |
Good |
Public Sector Storage
Public sector storage, while present, is not easy to procure and often sits empty. A well-managed warehouse located in Lagos is owned by UNFPA and managed by the Ministry of Health for contraceptive supplies. It’s a model warehouse-in-a-box.
Location |
Ministry / Agency |
Use Possibility |
Capacity (MT / m² / m³) |
Type |
Access |
Condition |
Lagos (Warehouse-in-a-box)
|
Federal Ministry of Health / UNFPA |
Unable to get a commitment |
15000 m2
|
Open and Cold chain |
Good |
Good |
Cold Chain
Cold chain storage is not readily available. Companies such as breweries have their own facilities but use them to capacity for their own requirements. Limited pharmaceutical storage is available. Storage is often in small domestic type refrigeration. It is advisable for an organisation to make its own arrangements to import refrigerated containers for large volume storage.
Refrigerators or cool rooms can be purchased in-country, rental facilities are available but scarce. Refrigerated transport is used to capacity by the import meat, fish and poultry industries.
Location |
Organization / Owner |
Type |
Cooling/Power |
Quantity |
Total Capacity (m³) |
Condition |
Lagos |
WHO |
Refrigerated Container |
Electric/Standby generator |
As required |
As required |
Good |
Lagos |
Federal Ministry of Health |
Cold Room |
Electric/Standby generator |
Unable to get details or commitment |