Trade Economics • Sokora Intelligence
The hidden cost of slow quote turnaround in Lagos & Kano trade
When a quote takes 6 days instead of 18 hours, businesses lose ₦millions in inventory buffer capital and port demurrage. Here is what the live data reveals.
Across Nigeria's commercial hubs, the traditional timeline to receive a quote for commercial raw materials or packaging is six to eight business days. Most executives treat this delay as an unavoidable cost of doing business in Africa. In reality, it is a massive drag on working capital and factory efficiency.
Demurrage, Buffer Capital, and Production Idling
When a procurement team takes six days to finalize a purchase order for corrugated cartons, factory production lines frequently sit idle awaiting packaging. In capital-intensive industries, an idle production line in an industrial estate like Agbara or Ota can burn between ₦1.5M and ₦4.8M per day in fixed overhead, generator fuel, and contracted labor.
Furthermore, delayed raw material procurement forces companies to over-order and hold excessive inventory buffer stock — tying up cash that could otherwise fund operational expansion or cushion currency volatility.
The 18-Hour SLA Advantage
By standardizing RFQ templates and connecting directly to pre-audited Nigerian factories, Sokora compresses the quote turnaround from 6 days down to 18 hours. Buyers compare three to five verified quotes on a single dashboard, select the optimal lead time and payment terms, and issue the PO before competitors have even finished chasing their brokers on WhatsApp.
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