The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), on Thursday, launched the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee (PCEC), a move aimed at enhanced efficiency and Ease of Doing Business at the nation’s sea ports
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the PCEC in Lagos, the director general of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Mustapha, said improving efficiencies at the nation’s seaports would reduce cargo dwell time, vessel turnaround and turnover for Customers.
According to the PEBEC DG, the committee was launched to change the narrative of missed opportunities in the maritime sector and as well unlock potential opportunities, and enhance Nigeria’s economy.
“By improving efficiencies in our ports, we can drastically reduce the average cargo dwell time and turnover time for customers, eliminate duplication of documentation and manual processes, and ensure customers’ satisfaction.
“This is not just another one of our reforms, but this is about resilience; it’s about unlocking potential opportunities and enhancing Nigeria’s economy. This is not just a committee made up of government forces for a difference; this also has a lot of private sector stakeholders.
“It is a call to action for terminal operators to improve infrastructure and for shipping companies to increase efficiency to reduce delays, for freight forwarders to uphold compliance, and for regulators to reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks. It is a call for shared ownership of our shared problem and a commitment to deliver a shared solution,” she stated.
Speaking on missed opportunities, Princess Audu stated that the Customs Committee was established to go beyond identifying the problems and to begin implementing the long overdue solutions.
“Nigeria loses a lot every single day due to some of our inefficiencies. These are not just numbers, these are missed opportunities. They represent jobs not created, goods not delivered, investments not realised, and economic growth that is unnecessarily delayed.
“The Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee has been established to change this narrative, to go beyond identifying the problems we already know and begin implementing the solutions we all agree are long overdue.
“At PEBEC, our mandate has been very clear to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks that will allow people to do business at Nigerian seaports. Since 2016, we have driven over 200 reforms across sectors, collaborating with ministries, departments, agencies, and the private sector, and since I came on board, I’ve taken it one step forward.
“So beyond passing or helping pass reforms or policies, it’s time for us to focus on implementation and practical output of what these reforms can translate into. This is why this committee is important to us.
The Parts and Customs Efficiency Committee is not an observer group, it is an action-oriented, high-impact one, charged with driving sustainable improvement in service delivery at the Nigerian ports working hand-in-hand with agencies like the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Nigerian Customs Services, and other government agencies within the ports, technical operators, shipping companies, freight hauliers, logistic providers, exporters, manufacturers, and policymakers, this is a reform ecosystem that accommodates everyone” Princess Audu stated.
Speaking earlier, the managing director of NPA, Abubakar Dantsoho, said the authority is currently addressing four major pillars that are critical to repositioning the nation’s seaports and making it compete effectively with regional counterparts.
According to the NPA boss, investment in infrastructure, equipment, technology, and human capacity would improve the competitiveness and operational efficiency of the nation’s seaports.
Dantsoho noted that port infrastructure, particularly in Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports, is aged and in dire need of rehabilitation.
“Tin Can was constructed about 48 years ago, Apapa almost 100 years ago—yet no major rehabilitation has taken place all these years,” he said.
He added that recent government approval for the reconstruction of both ports would significantly improve berth depth and cargo handling capacity.
On the technological front, the NPA MD disclosed that the agency is working closely with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to deploy the Port Community System (PCS), which he described as the backbone of the National Single Window.
He stressed that PCS will eliminate paperwork and reduce human interface, thereby improving transparency, reducing cost, and boosting efficiency and revenue generation.
In terms of human capital, Dantsoho said the NPA is intensifying efforts to upgrade the skills of pilots and technical personnel to meet modern navigational and operational demands.
He concluded by reiterating the importance of inter-agency collaboration across all operational areas.
“NPA cannot do it alone. Efficiency must cut across all segments if we are to truly optimize revenue and compete globally,” he said.
Also speaking the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said an efficient port is critical to Nigeria’s logistics and trade competitiveness.
Adeniyi, represented by the deputy comptroller general of Customs, Tariff and Trade, DCG C.K Niagwan, stated further that for Nigeria’s ports to achieve their hub status, all the MDAs must be committed to seeing that the ports are efficient.
He further stressed the need for a sustained investment in infrastructure and technology, saying, “We have identified key challenges that have caused the inefficiencies to be severe congestion, which leads to prolonged cargo dwell time, as well as escalated logistic costs.
“Also, the ports need to be revitalized for them to be efficient and this part, being efficient, is very critical to Nigeria’s logistics, trade, competitiveness, as well as regional and continental relations, particularly under the frameworks of the African Free Continental Free Trade Agreement.
“There’s a need for us to implement measures that require public-private collaboration, very important because the Nigerian government cannot afford to build on the infrastructures of the port. We need to have the private sector join us in doing that.
“We also need to have regulatory commitment, very important. All the MDAs must be committed to seeing that the ports are efficient. We also need to have sustained investment in infrastructure and technology.
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