We’re going to walk you through how to import goods from China to Nigeria in seven steps.
You pay in naira, here in Nigeria, to Yodo. Our Guangzhou team pays the factory in RMB (Chinese yuan). Following these steps in the right order keeps your money safe: we pay the supplier only after the seller is verified and the goods are inspected.
This walkthrough covers seven steps:
- Spec the factory has to quote against
- Factory checks on the real registries
- Inspection in China before you pay
- Staged naira payment
- Air-or-sea shipping
- Clearing with Form M, PAAR and SONCAP
- Delivery, with the full landed cost priced before you commit
Our clients do this every week. We handle the China side, and you approve before we pay the supplier.
The first step: write a clear spec, before any money moves.
Step 1: Decide what to import and write a clear spec for sources, samples and price
More Nigerian shop owners order directly from Chinese factories. The difference between a clean order and a costly one usually comes down to something that happens before you pay: the spec you write. First-timers message “I want shirts” or “I want phones”, and the factory quotes the wrong thing, because a vague description means they guess.
Write this before you message any supplier:
- Material: what the product is made of, and what it must not be
- Sizes and quantities: per item, per pack, per carton
- Packaging: how the goods must be packed to survive the journey
- Standard: what “good quality” means for this product, written so the factory can follow it without guessing
Your spec is what the factory quotes against, what we check the sample against, and what we inspect the final goods against. The principle behind every step, verify, inspect, then pay, we cover in detail in our guide on how to import from China to Nigeria safely.
Step 2: Find and verify the supplier is a real factory
If you want to find suppliers, the listing part is easy. Factories, trading companies and middlemen list side by side on the major China sourcing platforms, so a listing proves nothing on its own.
Here’s exactly what we check in China before a kobo reaches the supplier’s bank account:
- Business licence: our Guangzhou team verifies it on gsxt.gov.cn, China’s official company registry
- Export qualification: our Guangzhou team confirms it on origin.customs.gov.cn, China’s customs site, so the seller has permission to ship goods out of China as a business
- Credit and lawsuit history: our Guangzhou team checks it through Qichacha and Tianyancha, China’s two major business-record platforms
- Identity cross-match: our Guangzhou team matches the name, number, address, account, chop and signatory to that one business. If anything doesn’t match, we do not go ahead.
Worth noting: Qichacha routes visitors outside mainland China to an international portal, and Tianyancha blocks them outright. You can only run these checks from inside mainland China, which is why our Guangzhou team handles them.
Passing the registry checks doesn’t mean the goods are right. That’s what the inspection confirms.
Step 3: Inspect the goods in China before you pay, and approve before we pay the balance
One of our clients once paid us in full for a camera order. The money was already with us, and we still inspected the camera in the supplier’s city and confirmed it matched the order before a kobo reached the supplier. That’s how we work: we don’t pay the supplier until we have seen the goods and you’ve approved.
Inspection means we see your exact goods against the spec from Step 1, record a video condition report, and send it to you before any balance is paid. Most inspections come back clean. When the goods don’t match, our inspection process caught flood damage on a car worth millions of naira.
If your supplier is not in Guangzhou, we travel to their city to see the goods before we pay. You approve the same video report before any balance moves.
The safe order is always the same: verify the seller, inspect the goods, then pay.
Step 4: Pay safely from Nigeria in naira, in stages, with the rate confirmed first
You pay us in naira here in Nigeria. We pay the supplier in RMB (Chinese yuan) after you’ve approved, at the current exchange rate, which we confirm with you before converting. You don’t need to find dollars or yuan.
You don’t pay everything upfront either. You place a deposit. We inspect and send the report. You pay the balance after you approve. The split depends on the order. No single percentage fits every shipment. We won’t ask you to clear the balance early.
A scam asks for the balance before you see the inspection. That ask is how you spot it. Pay in stages instead.
Step 5: Ship by air or sea, and understand what the quote covers
By the time your goods pass inspection, you’ll already know whether to ship by air or sea. We price heavy or bulky cargo by CBM (cubic meters), the volume your goods fill once packed. We price light or urgent air cargo per kilogram. A machine for your workshop and a household container for your compound go the same way: if it fills space, it ships by CBM.
We handle shipping, and the quote shows you what you pay for.
When we ship door-to-door, we quote one rate for shipping and clearing, and you see the all-in cost before you approve.
Cars are the exception: car quotes cover getting the car to Lagos, and we quote clearing separately.
By sea, we charge per cubic meter, and we quote your all-in price when you ask. The number you approve is the number you pay.
A container tracking number exists only when you own the entire container. Shared containers don’t get one. What you get instead is updates from us at every stage, because one shared box carries many owners’ goods and the forwarder tracks the box, not your cartons.
Step 6: Clear customs in Nigeria and take delivery (the three documents and the clearing timeline)
Once your goods are on the water or in the air, the Nigerian side requires three documents, and filing them in the right order is just as important as having them:
-
Form M
– What it is: the import declaration, which you open at your bank (an Authorised Dealer Bank).
– When to file: before the goods ship.
– Watch out: required for commercial imports above $1,000, its value must match the commercial invoice exactly, and it stays valid for about six months. -
PAAR
– What it is: the pre-arrival assessment report, Customs works out your duty assessment before the goods reach Nigeria, and your agent files it through NICIS II (Nigeria Customs’ clearance system) against your Form M number.
– When to file: before the vessel arrives. -
SONCAP
– What it is: inspectors verify conformity in China, before anything ships (SONCAP, per the Standards Organisation of Nigeria).
– Watch out: the SONCAP Certificate is mandatory for customs clearance, the Product Certificate behind it is required to open Form M, and processing typically takes 2–4 weeks, so start early.
Our cargo is electronics, gadgets, machinery and general goods, so SONCAP applies and NAFDAC (the food and drug regulator) does not come into it. If your goods fall outside those, ask for a check before you commit.
Here’s how long clearing actually takes.
Sea clearing. Nobody can give you an exact date, because customs decides when goods are released. Release normally comes through in 7 to 10 days. If it takes longer, we follow up, but we can’t make them move faster. Plan around that while Customs decides. Once your goods are released, we clear them quickly, usually the same or next day, and keep you updated.
Air clearing. Air clearing is usually same-day, sometimes two-day.
The process is public on the Nigeria Customs Service site.
When your goods land in Lagos, we clear them. We price delivery to where they land next, which is why we confirm the quote before you commit. The details for general goods are on our general-goods import service page.
Step 7: Take delivery in Abuja or your city
We bring the goods to Abuja, or to your city: delivered to your shop, stored in your warehouse, or delivered to your compound, and we send photos and videos of the handover for you to approve. Approve the handover, and the goods are yours.
That’s the entire process from deposit to delivery.
What it costs and how long it takes to import goods from China to Nigeria
The landed cost of importing goods from China to Nigeria has four main costs, and we can price every one of them before you commit:
- Duty, VAT and levies: duty follows your HS code, the tariff category your goods file under. Most general goods land in the 5–20 percent band, inside a full CET range of 0–35 percent. VAT adds 7.5 percent on the CIF value (goods, insurance and freight to port) plus the duties. Official rates: Nigeria Customs CET tariff.
- Freight: China to Lagos, by air or sea.
- Port and terminal charges: the port-side work and fees between the ship and the gate.
- Delivery: Lagos to Abuja or your city.
Freight moves every few weeks, so only a fresh quote counts. Air door-to-door runs $8.99–$14.99 per kg all-in: express in 3–4 days, normal air in 7 days, battery goods in 14 days.
For sea, forwarder listings show about $435 per CBM and $2,970–$3,850 for a full container. That is the ship alone, without documentation. Our sea door-to-door runs 45–60 days including unpacking. It can slip by about a week; not guaranteed. Send your goods and route and we confirm your price and time before you commit.
Demurrage, terminal charges and local trucking can add 10–15 percent on top of CIF, duty and VAT. That covers the port extras. The Reddit first-timer’s 25–30% above product and shipping is a wider cushion: “Customs required a lot more paperwork than I expected. If I were starting again, I’d budget at least 25–30% above product and shipping costs.”
When we price every cost before you commit, there are no surprises on the final bill.
FAQ: paying in naira, who can import, sea timelines, and doing it with an agent
Can I pay in naira?
Yes. You pay in naira, here in Nigeria, into our Nigerian account, and we pay the supplier in RMB after you’ve approved. We confirm the current rate with you before we convert. You don’t need to find dollars or yuan.
Do I need a company to import?
There is no special import licence to obtain. The import process requires a Form M, which you open at your Nigerian bank (an Authorised Dealer Bank). File the paperwork in the right order. That’s what an agent manages with you.
How long does sea freight take?
Our sea door-to-door for goods runs 45–60 days including unpacking and delivery (can slip about a week; not guaranteed). At the port, sea release normally comes in 7–10 days, and once Customs releases your goods we clear them, usually the same or next day.
Does the full payment include duty?
For air and general-goods shipments, we include clearing in the shipping cost we quote you. Duty itself is separate: Nigeria Customs assesses it in naira on each shipment’s value. Your quote breaks down all four costs so you know the total before you commit.
Do I have to go to China myself?
No. We source, inspect and ship on your behalf, and you approve at every stage. If you’d rather see with your own eyes, you can fly in and we will guide you to the right factories and warehouses. Nazido is our company on the ground in China. That’s who sources, inspects, and ships on your behalf.
Where is your office?
Our office in Abuja is at Bengate Plaza, Plot 1387, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2. Walk in, or message us on WhatsApp first if you’re outside Abuja. A real office means your money has somewhere to find us. Our China team works from Guangzhou, and if your supplier is in another city, we travel to them.
Verify the seller, inspect the goods, then pay. Nazido is our company on the ground in China. That’s who inspects your goods before we pay the supplier. The end result: your goods, cleared and delivered, in your shop or your compound, with every cost accounted for. Message Yodo on WhatsApp at +234 904 190 9777, or +86 130 4174 1021 if you’re already in China, with what you want to import and where it should land.