Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho has enumerated the multiple advantages Nigeria stands to reap from successful implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) scheme.
The NPA boss, who described the NSW scheme which was reintroduced in Lagos Tuesday, as the most strategic port initiative since 2003, said that, with the implementation, the nation’s seaports can now validly relate to over 500 million container movements, worldwide with no less than 50 billion cargo tonnage.
Stressing that the implementation will generally promote Nigeria’s standing in the comity of maritime nations, Dantsoho noted that Nigeria’s quest for “Category C” of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ratings.
Liberia, which currently occupies the Category C seat of the IMO, remains the only African country in that capacity since her election in late 2023 to the coveted position for the 2024-2025 biannual rating.
While Liberia is the only African amongst the 10 countries of the world that is so rated, Nigeria’s quest for the Category C, has remained elusive for the past decade, due to her unimpressive Ports Administrative Records (PAR) by the IMO.
Dantsoho, who spoke at the opening of the ongoing stakeholder’s conference on NSW in Lagos, pointed out that the implementation of the scheme would guarantee Nigeria the needed reputation to access adequate funds for preparing the nation’s seaports towards success in the next IMO Category C rating.
He pointed out that, under his watch, NPA has been working assiduously in preparing the ports for the smooth sail of the NSW scheme through trade facilitation by way of single-line processes at the ports.
While lauding the Federal Government in promoting the ideals of the scheme, he said that President Bola Tinubu has done well, adding that ‘his concrete move to implement the National Single Window in Nigeria will by far help to deepen the competitiveness of our ports and position the good people of Nigeria to the greater benefits of global trade.
‘In our own special way, the Nigerian Port Authority has been pursuing the idea of the port community system which is a forerunner to the single window nationally.
‘The purpose of the port community system is primarily for Nigeria to comply with the dictates of the International Maritime Organisation, Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, whose main aim or 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 on the port’.
The NPA boss also affirmed that the World Trade Organisation’s trade facilitation agreement requires member states to implement the single window system. He further said: ‘It should be observed that the World Trade Organization’s agreement is now in force and therefore, the establishment of this National Single Window is mandatory for Nigeria.
‘In recognition of the importance of this noble objective, the Nigerian Port Authority had ahead of time enlisted the technical guidance of the IMO for the deployment of the port community system, PCS, which, like I said earlier, is a precursor to the National Single Window.
‘Only recently, upon our fulfillment of the necessary requirements, Nigeria was admitted as a member of the International Port Community System Association to join top-class ports in the region like Tangier Med Port of Morocco, the Port of Tema in Ghana, the Togo Port, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Republic of Benin among others’.
While alluding to the strategic impact of the ports in facilitating government’s directives for the sale of crude oil to the local refineries, Dantsoho said that ‘it is important to state at this juncture that the final government implementation of the sales of crude oil to local refiners and refined petroleum products in Naira for domestic consumption, which was effective from the 1st of October 2024 as approved by Mr. The President, is today a success story.
‘There is no doubt that the success of this initiative is directly connected to the establishment of a one-stop shop, which comprises all relevant government agencies and representatives of local refineries that was settled by the Implementation Committee for this initiative, and the Nigerian Port Authority was appointed to play a role of coordinating the processes for the achievement of this seemingly lofty goal.
‘It is important to note that other African countries, especially the three largest ports in Africa, in terms of size and capacity, recorded major successes because of their early adoption of both the port community system and the national single window.
‘I would like to emphasize that our mission is to position Nigeria as a transshipment hub in West Africa, and with our strategic location, our population of over 200 million people, and a large market, the Nigerian ports will soon become the leading transshipment hub in the African region.
‘We also have the opportunity to serve as a transit port to landlocked countries, since out of the 44 landlocked countries in the world, 16 are located in Africa. However, this is potentially a country constrained by infrastructure challenges and competition, as neighboring countries continue to develop their port infrastructure.
‘The upcoming modernization of ports is, however, aimed at bridging the gap and ensuring that our ports remain competitive within the region.
‘There is no doubt that the implementation of the port community system is necessarily complex and, therefore, does not happen quickly. Consequently, the Nigerian Port Authority has been consistent in its efforts since the year 2011 to fully operate the port community system’.
