Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have pledged to boost exports and facilitate trade.
They renewed their synergy when NPA’s Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko visited Customs’ Acting Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale, at Customs Headquarters in Abuja.
The meeting focused on ease of export processing by eliminating procedural bottlenecks causing delays affecting competitiveness of Nigerian goods, especially agro-allied products, in the international market.
Adewale commended NPA for creating Export Processing Terminals, saying they had advanced the fortunes of exports.
He promised that Customs was finalising efforts at streamlining the multiplicity of Customs Units/checkpoints, evacuation of overtime cargo from ports, speedy relocation of the Customs facility standing on the rail link of Apapa Ports and resolving challenges to pave the way for optimisation of Ikorodu Lighter Terminal.
Given that the balance of trade is crucial to strengthening the value of naira, this renewed collaboration between NPA and Customs will add fresh impetus to the efforts of President Bola Tinubu at growing the economy.
