The federal government has announced plans to implement the National Single Window (NSW) in its bid to reduce the cost of doing business in Nigerian ports by at least 25 per cent.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, who stated this at a stakeholders’ forum on the establishment of the NSW in Lagos, said the implementation of the Single Window System can enhance efficiency, potentially reducing these costs by at least 25%.
‘By streamlining operations, improving transparency, and minimizing delays, the system not only drives cost savings but also strengthens overall trade facilitation. The cumulative impact across all areas, including reduced costs, enhanced efficiency, and greater transparency, ultimately contributes to the overall ease of doing business’, he said.
Oyetola also stated that the federal government is prioritising multimodal connectivity to boost trade and reduce transportation costs.
According to him, the present administration is advancing multimodal connectivity by improving road, rail, and inland waterway links to and from the ports.
He said these improvements are targeted at reducing transportation costs, enhancing logistics, and boosting trade.
Oyetola speaking at the stakeholders’ forum on the establishment of the National Single Window (NSW) in Lagos, said his Ministry in collaboration with the Lagos State Government, cleared the age-long Apapa – Tincan – Mile 2 traffic for landside operations and provided tugboats, mooring boats, pilot cutters, bollards, and fenders across all port locations for effective seaside operations.
‘We maximized crane productivity and ensured a reduced transit time for vessels and trucks. These led to a reduction in both the vessel and truck turn-around times.
‘The vessel turn-around-time went down from an average of 7 days to an average of 5 days, while truck turn-around-time went from an average of 10 days to a few hours. But we are not resting on our oars, as our ultimate goal is to make Nigeria the hub of maritime in West Africa’, he said.
Also speaking, the Managing Director, of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, said the implementation of NSW interconnects all stakeholders involved in foreign trade and enables them to perform trade procedures on one platform, adding that it provides a comprehensive online environment for all governmental and business users such as importers, exporters, commercial banks, carriers, Customs, ministries, and other government agencies to perform trade operations.
He said the Single Window operation is the global trade best practice for the electronic exchange of information relating to over 500 million TEU movements and billions of tonnes of cargo for sea, air, and land transport modes.
‘This concrete move by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to implement the NSW in Nigeria is pivotal to deepening the competitiveness of our Ports and position the good people of Nigeria to reap greater benefits from global trade.
‘The purpose of the Port Community System (PCS) is primarily for Nigeria to comply with the dictates of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL) whose main objectives are to prevent unnecessary delays in maritime traffic, to aid cooperation between governments, and to secure the highest practicable degree of uniformity in formalities and other procedures’, he noted.
