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President Bola Tinubu said on Tuesday that it was time for Nigeria to join the ranks of countries like Singapore, Korea, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia that have experienced significant improvement in trade efficiency after implementing a single window system.
President Tinubu stated this when he inaugurated the National Single Window Steering Committee to drive real-time digital trade compliance at the nation’s ports.
The Committee comprises representatives of the Federal Ministry of Finance, representatives of the Marine and Blue Economy, the Federal Ministry of Transportation, the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment as well as Federal Inland Revenue Service.
The Committee members also include representatives of the Nigerian Customs Service, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, the Standards Organization of Nigeria, the Nigerian Maritime Administration on Safety Agency, NIMASA, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, and the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC.
President Tinubu, during the inauguration at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, tasked the Committee to check infractions in the nation’s import and export value chain and to bridge the over $4 billion in losses owing to bureaucratic bottlenecks at the ports.
The National Single Window project is expected to facilitate a paperless trade volume of $ 2.7 billion to the country.
Tinubu told the Committee that the country cannot afford to lose an estimated $4 billion annually to bureaucracy, delays, and corruption.
Tinubu said he was optimistic that through the newly launched project, Nigeria will expedite cargo movement and optimize inter-African trade.
He added that the initiative is a testament to his administration’s commitment to regional integration and collaboration.
