National Single Window will deepen port competitiveness, boost trade – Dantsoho

Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, Says implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) in Nigeria will deepen the competitiveness of the nation’s ports and position the good people of Nigeria to reap greater benefits from global trade. Dr. Dantsoho explained that the Single Window solution interconnects all stakeholders involved […]

Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, Says implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) in Nigeria will deepen the competitiveness of the nation’s ports and position the good people of Nigeria to reap greater benefits from global trade.

Dr. Dantsoho explained that the Single Window solution interconnects all stakeholders involved in foreign trade and enables them to perform trade procedures on one platform.

The NPA MD further explained 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.

“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 (GCFR) to implement the NSW in Nigeria is pivotal to deepening the competitiveness of our Ports and positioning 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.

“The FAL Convention in April 2019 made it mandatory for ships and ports to exchange declarations electronically preparatory to the enforcement of the Single Window approach in 2024.

“Similarly, the World Trade Organization (WTO), Trade Facilitation Agreement requires member states to implement the Single Window System. It should be observed that the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement is now in force, therefore the establishment of Single Window is mandatory for Nigeria,” he stated.

Dantsoho revealed that it is in recognition of the importance of the noble objective that NPA went ahead of time to enlist the technical guidance of the IMO for the deployment of the Port Community System (PCS), which according to him, is actually the precursor to the NSW.

“Only recently upon our fulfilment of the necessary requirements, Nigeria was admitted as a member of the International Port Community System Association (IPCSA) to join top class ports in the region, like Tangier Med Port of Morocco, Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, Benin Republic amongst others.

“Furthermore, the Nigerian Ports Authority recognised the importance of Single Window and has planned and implemented its own strategy and provided leadership within the Nigerian Ports Community,” he stated.

The NPA helmsman disclosed that the Authority has taken a very proactive approach to embracing ICT technologies in implementing a number of its own internal activities, adding that this is in the belief that cargo operations in the nation’s Ports cannot meet International Standards without the Port Community System.

He said that the National Single Window is a central piece in the modernization of trade facilitation, and that the Nigerian Ports Authority under the supervision of His Excellency, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola CON, Honourable Minister of Marine & Blue Economy is fully committed to its successful implementation.

He said, “At a time like this, a phase in which Nigeria is undergoing socio-economic turn-around, the Nigerian Ports Authority would certainly strive to match the pace and expectation of the government in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.

“It is important to state at this juncture, that the Federal Government’s implementation of the sales of crude oil to local refiners and refined petroleum products in Naira for domestic consumption, with effect from 1st October, 2024, is today a success story.

“For the first time in many years, the Nation did not experience the perennial scarcity of petroleum products with attendant queues at petrol stations and exorbitant prices during the yuletide and new year periods.”

He said there is no doubt that the success of the initiative is directly connected to the establishment of the ONE-STOP SHOP (OSS) which comprises all the relevant Federal Government Regulatory Agencies and the representatives of local Refineries that was set up by the Implementation Committee for the initiative and the Nigerian Ports Authority was appointed to play the role of coordinating the process for the achievement of these seemingly lofty goals.

“I am happy to announce that so far the OSS has demonstrated that it is possible for government agencies to collaborate and work in harmony towards achieving desired goals that will move our nation forward. This was a result of zero tolerance for delays in service delivery and timely interventions without bottlenecks. The OSS ensured that the relevant agencies carried out their tasks without delay and with zero corruption. The process is on-going and getting better.”

Stating further, he said 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 (PCS) and the Single Window (SW).

According to him, the Tangier Med Port of Morocco has a capacity of 9 million containers and a population of 38 million people while the Port of South Africa with a container capacity of 6 million containers per annum also generates 60% of South Africa’s revenue with a population of 60 million people.

Similarly, he said Port of Said, Egypt handles 4 million containers per annum with a population of 117 million people; and that it is worthy of note that while repositioning Nigerian Ports to maintain regional and continental competitiveness, that the Nigerian Ports Authority has embarked on the process re-engineering aimed at aligning the Authority’s functions with the objectives of the NSW and ensure parity with regional competitors, focusing on seamless data availability and enhanced transparency.

“I would like to emphasize that our mission is to position Nigeria as the transshipment hub in West Africa and with our strategic location, a population of over 200 million people, and a large market, Nigerian Ports have the potential to become the leading transshipment hub in the African region.

“We also have the potential to serve as a transit port to land-locked countries since out of the 44 land-locked countries in the world, 16 are in Africa. However, this potential is currently constrained by infrastructure challenges and competition, as neighbouring countries continue to develop their ports infrastructure. However, the upcoming Port Modernization projects aim to bridge this gap and ensure that our ports remain competitive with regional counterparts.

“There is no doubt that the implementation of the Port Community System is necessarily complex and therefore does not happen quickly. Consequently, the Nigerian Ports Authority has been consistent in its efforts since the year 2011 to fully operate the PCS.

“Hence, we have identified major challenges over the years and they are as follows: 1) The need for strong central vision and political support. 2) The harmonization of processes and documentations. 3) Investment in Technology. and 4) Recognition of Lead Agency.

“Some of the major steps that are required for the Single Window environment to be successfully implemented are already well established in the Authority and they include ESEN, Revenue Invoice Management System (RIMS), Oracle Financials, Vessel and Port Traffic Monitoring and Information System among others.

“Building on these major steps, the implementation of the National Single Window will promote Nigeria’s standing in the committee of maritime nations and provides the reputational capital necessary for actualizing our quest for re-admission into the influential global maritime decision making “Category C” of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

“At this point, it is crucial to highlight the importance of collaboration among government agencies, which is essential for the success of both the Nigeria Single Window (NSW) and the Port Community Management (PCM) system,” he added. her education.