Buyers in Lagos, Accra, Abidjan and Dakar ask the same two questions before they order machinery from Türkiye: how long will it take, and what will it cost to get here. Neither has a single answer, but both have a reliable range. This is what to plan for.
Transit times
Sea freight is how machinery moves to West Africa. From the Turkish ports of Mersin, Ambarlı or Izmir, typical port-to-port transit runs:
- Lagos (Apapa / Tin Can) — around 21 to 30 days
- Tema, Ghana — around 20 to 28 days
- Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire — around 22 to 30 days
- Dakar, Senegal — around 16 to 24 days
These are sailing times, not delivery times. Add roughly one week before departure for production readiness, inland haulage to the port and export clearance, and add whatever customs clearance takes at your end. Lagos in particular is known for congestion; experienced importers budget two to three weeks from vessel arrival to goods leaving the port, and are pleasantly surprised when it is faster.
Air freight from Istanbul to Lagos or Accra takes days rather than weeks and is worth it for spare parts, control boards and anything that has stopped a production line. For a complete machine the cost rarely justifies it.
What drives the freight cost
Container freight rates move constantly, so any figure printed here would be wrong within a month. What does not change is the structure of the cost, and knowing it lets you read a quotation properly.
- Full container (FCL) versus part load (LCL). A 20-foot container takes roughly 28 cubic metres; a 40-foot high cube roughly 67. If your equipment fills half a container, LCL is priced per cubic metre and usually works out dearer per unit of volume than simply taking the box. Most buyers ordering more than two or three machines find FCL cheaper.
- Volume, not weight. Industrial kitchen equipment, cabinets and stainless fabrication are bulky and light. Sea freight for this cargo is charged on space, so how well the crates stack matters more than the tonnage.
- Destination port charges. Terminal handling, documentation and local levies at the discharge port are paid by you under CIF and CFR terms. On West African routes these are substantial and are the single most common reason a landed cost comes in above budget.
- Demurrage. Free time at the port is limited, commonly seven days. After that the shipping line charges per container per day. Have your clearing agent appointed and funded before the vessel arrives.
Import duty
Duty is set by your own country, not by the supplier, and depends on the HS code of the goods. Nigeria, Ghana and the other ECOWAS states apply the ECOWAS Common External Tariff, with industrial machinery generally in the lower bands and consumer goods higher. VAT and various levies apply on top.
Get the HS code from your supplier at quotation stage and take it to your clearing agent before you order. A classification difference of one digit can change the duty materially, and it is far cheaper to find that out before the container sails than after.
Türkiye has no customs union with the ECOWAS states, so the A.TR certificate that removes duty for European buyers does not help here. What you will need is a Certificate of Origin issued by a Turkish chamber of commerce, and for Nigeria a Form M and a Product Certificate under the SONCAP conformity scheme, arranged before shipment. Ask your supplier in writing whether they have supported SONCAP before; if the answer is vague, involve your clearing agent early.
Packing matters more than buyers expect
Machinery for this route should be crated in wood, not simply shrink-wrapped on a pallet. Wooden packaging entering most countries must be heat-treated and marked under ISPM 15 standards; ask for confirmation. Specify that the crates are marked with your order number and that a copy of the packing list travels inside one of them. When a container is opened at a congested port, unlabelled crates are how parts go missing.
A realistic timeline
For a made-to-order machine going to Lagos: four to six weeks production, one week to the port and clearance, three to four weeks at sea, two to three weeks clearing. That is roughly two and a half to three and a half months from deposit to installation. Anyone promising six weeks door to door on a custom build is describing a best case, not a plan.
Ask for a landed cost, not a machine price
When you request a quotation, ask for the price CIF your port, the HS code, the crate dimensions and total volume, and the estimated lead time. With those four numbers your clearing agent can give you the duty and port charges, and you will know the real cost of the equipment standing in your workshop.