5 Firms Get NPA Licences To Facilitate Export To Apapa, Tin Can Ports

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has given five private sector firms operating licences to run terminals solely dedicated to processing export containers bound for ports in Lagos, Apapa and Tin-Can Island.

The five terminals are Diamondstar Port & Terminals Ltd, Ijora; Esslibra Terminal in Ikorodu; Sundial Global Trade & Service Ltd in Kirikiri; Bellington Cargo Ltd in Okokomaiko; and Tenzik Energy Ltd in Kirikiri Lighter Terminal 1.

The terminals are certified as pre-gates for all exports where export goods will be sorted, inspected, certified, sealed, and escorted by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to the port and when the goods get to the ports, they would no longer be examined by Customs.

Presenting the operating license to the five terminal operators in Lagos on Thursday, the managing director of the NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, said the terminals to support the NPA’s efforts in creating the enabling environment that will scale up Nigeria’s export development initiative.

According to him, the procedure for licensing the terminals commenced in April 2021 with a public notice for an expression of interest from firms willing to site export terminals in Lagos.

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He said that about 30 companies expressed interest but only 10 companies were granted approval to join the Lilypond Export Processing Terminal after thorough engagement with the inspection committee and the Project Delivery Team.

“Today, only five out of a total of eleven companies have met our stringent conditions and would be granted formal certification. The remaining six who hold provisional licenses would, unfortunately, be dropped at the end of this month if they fail to meet our standard,” Bello-Koko said.

He said NPA insisted on ensuring that only venture capitalists willing to deploy appropriate resources can make the list, adding that the project is also helping the Authority to encourage local content in the export value chain.

He assured the terminal operators that the NPA will offer all support, particularly in the area of policy to ensure the growth and stability of the terminals.

While acknowledging the existence of export warehouses established by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council that are handling manufactured products, he said the NPA is working with the Export Command of the Nigerian Customs Service to bring up seamless modalities that will govern the terminals.

He said the movement of agro-export boxes to the ports from Lagos and Ogun states shall only be allowed into the ports from any of the five export processing terminals.

“Export containers arriving from the Domestic Export Warehouses located across the country, the Authority is committed to receiving them subject to compliance with the traffic management put in place by the Lagos State Government in collaboration with the NPA,” he added.

Earlier, Customs Area acontroller, Lilypond Export Command, Compt. Mohammed Babandede, said promoting export is a potential that has been identified by the government in order to drive FX earnings.

He said the Customs is doing everything possible to promote export by establishing an export command to ensure quick turnaround as Customs is expected to work with other government agencies to jointly inspect containers.

He assured that all the bottlenecks impeding fast shipment of export originating from Nigeria would soon be a thing of the past because Customs has the mandate to ensure the seamless movement of exports.

“NPA has approved five terminals and all export for Tin-Can and Apapa must come from these terminals. The Nigeria Export Promotion Council also has 13 approved export warehouses across the country. So, our officers can only attend to the cargoes coming from these places alone,” he said.

In their acceptance remarks, representatives of the five terminals said the licensing is the first in many steps to ensure Nigeria becomes a high-volume exporter of non-oil in the world. They also pledged to increase Nigeria’s revenue generation drive by ensuring that the country earns foreign exchange from export.