Tag: National Single Window

Stakeholders in the Marine and Blue Economy sector have called for the enactment of a legal instrument that would support the rollout of the National Single Window (NSW) project, posture of the current administration which is expected to commence by the first quarter of next year.

Speaking at the 10th Annual Seminar for Maritime Journalists and Launch of the Centre for Maritime Media and Capacity Development in Lagos, the former Acting President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Dr Kayode Farinto observed that the  implementation of the  National Single Window would bring various government agencies at the port together to facilitate international trade, reduce time and cost and boost government revenue.

The event was organised by First Mediacon Network Limited (FMNL) with “A Decade of Collaboration for Impact: Strengthening Maritime Journalism for the Future” as theme.

Farinto and other stakeholders at the forum stressed the need for a legal framework in the implementation of the project, adding that there must be punishment for Chief Executive Officers of agencies who deliberately circumvent, delay cargoes and make officers extort traders or freight forwarders unnecessarily.

“Our position is that we need a legal framework to legitimise the various Acts that would be submerged under one project for it to be fully implemented.

“For example, the various government agencies like Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Nigeria Customs Service now have the 2023 Act which they have just started its implementation.

“For us to have these government agencies working together, there must be a legal framework so that it would be sacrosanct.

“In this legal framework, there must be punishment for Chief Executive Officers who deliberately circumvent, delay cargoes and make officers extort traders or freight forwarders unnecessarily,” Farinto said

He added that the new tax laws recently signed by President Bola Tinubu has a provision for Tax Ombudsman, which according to him will further help the implementation of the NSW.

In his address, the National Vice President of ANLCA, Prince Segun Oduntan expressed hope that the planned rollout of the National Single Window would adhere strictly to global best practices, delivering a truly unified platform capable of reducing delays, cutting costs and resolving long-standing inter-agency conflicts at the nation’s ports.

The National Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Abdullahi Maiwada said the Service has deployed digital knowledge and relevant technology to increase its revenue by enhancing operational efficiency, improving compliance, and detecting fraud in all its operations.

Read Also: MARCON backs FG’s National Single Window project, hails move to boost trade efficiency

He assured that the Service would key into the National Single Window project of the Federal Government when it becomes operational next year

Digital knowledge, he said, provides secure and transparent records of transactions and cargo movements, ensuring immutability and reducing opportunities for corruption and fraud.

The Chief Executive Officer, FMNL, Sesan Onileimo, said maritime journalists are confronted with the need to upscale their knowledge, especially in this era of Artificial Intelligence, digitalisation and social media in general.

Onileimo said all of these have combined to put journalists under intense pressure to push out factual details at all times, and also compete and be relevant, which is why the Maritime Journalists Capacity Development Centre was established.

The National Single Window (NSW) will simplify trade and enhance Nigeria’s global competitiveness.

Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Arabinrin Aderonke Atoyebi yesterday described the NSW as a major breakthrough in making trade processes simpler, faster, and more transparent.

Launched in April 2024, the NSW is a digital platform designed to integrate all trade-related processes into one system. For decades, Nigerian businesses have struggled with delays, cumbersome paperwork, and multiple approvals across various agencies.

With the NSW, importers, exporters, and traders will be able to submit permits, licences, and customs documents through a single portal.

While earlier attempts in 2009-2010 and 2012-2013 failed, the Renewed Hope Administration has revived the project, with full implementation scheduled for the first quarter of 2026.

The initiative is being spearheaded by FIRS Chairman, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, who leads the steering committee coordinating collaboration among critical agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), NAFDAC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), NIMASA, FAAN, NEPC, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Read Also: National Single Window for operation in March 2026

According to Atoyebi, the system is expected to save Nigeria billions of naira annually by cutting delays, reducing corruption, avoiding demurrage charges, and opening global markets to farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses.

President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly emphasised his commitment to reforms that build a stronger Nigeria. From removing fuel subsidies to harmonising foreign exchange rates, his administration has taken bold steps to free up funds, stabilise the naira, reduce fiscal deficits, and attract investments.

“These reforms are not just policies on paper but solutions improving the daily lives of Nigerians,” the statement read. “The National Single Window demonstrates the President’s resolve to back ideas with political will, ensuring Nigeria moves forward.”

Stakeholders say the project, when fully implemented, will strengthen Nigeria’s position in global trade, modernise infrastructure, and make doing business easier for both local and international investors.

The Federal Government has restated plans to implement the National Single Window, an initiative of the Bola Tinubu administration to plug revenue leakages, enhance trade facilitation and improve efficiency in international trade transactions.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed this when he appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Customs and Tariffs yesterday.

Edun said: “Customs revenue is significant and remains a major contributor to the Federation Account for the benefit of both the federal and state governments. We are working towards achieving higher revenue through more efficient processes and by blocking loopholes and leakages.”

He further stated that the government remained committed to addressing distortions in the economy following the removal of fuel subsidies and the adoption of a market-determined foreign exchange system.

Read Also: Fed govt denies involvement in First Holdco share acquisition

The minister noted that price equalisation remained the only viable approach to policing market dynamics and ensuring fair competition.

Speaking on trade settlements, the minister acknowledged ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s trade payment system, particularly informal transactions.

“Many of our trade transactions are conducted outside formal channels. We are working on reforms that will improve the system, including the possibility of settling imports and even crude oil sales in naira,” he stated.

The finance minister raised concerns about youth-led digital payments that escape the scrutiny of financial regulators, underscoring the need to bring such transactions into the formal financial system.

• Stakeholders back initiative

The Federal Government is set to establish a National Single Window (NSW) platform at port, to facilitate international trade, end arbitrary charges, under-the-table payments and boost revenue generation from the non-oil sector.

Lack of implementation of a single window platform is reportedly costing Nigeria N1.08 trillion revenue yearly.

The decision to establish a single window platform was make known yesterday  by the Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, during his interview on Arise TV monitored by our correspondent.

President Bola  Tinubu, Adeniyi said,  came under the mantra of Renewed Hope of rebuilding the economy, giving hope to economic prosperity and the issues of port competitiveness and port efficiency, among others.

On the directive by the Minister of Finance that import duty on steel and electric vehicles be removed, he said:  “The Customs is going to implement all fiscal policies directed by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Read Also: I will have my empire soon, says Ilebaye

“There are a number of other directives meant to engineer development in the various sectors of the economy. One of them is the removal of seven per cent VAT on LPG gas, among others. This is all part of the effort that the government is taking to revive our economy, and Customs, as an agency of the government, has no choice but to implement and also communicate this to Nigerians to make people understand the rationale behind such policies.”

Speaking further during the interview, Adeniyi restated the Federal Government’s plan to establish a national single window (NSW) at the ports to facilitate quick clearance and export of goods.

The promise to establish a NSW is coming six years after the Buhari administration pledged (in 2018), at different fora to creat the platform but failed to do so before it left the office last year

Adeniyi however, said, the policy advisory documents enunciated by the Tinubu administration was very clear on some of the directions which the government wanted to go and that the Nigeria Customs Service “is very happy to align to some of this and very  key among these is the introduction of the single window technology to drive operations in the port. .”

The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, Adeniyi said, “has been very clear on this particular initiative.”

Adeniyi added that the Tinubu administration has a long-term, strategic port planning system that would ensure that the seaports provide adequate capacity to meet the demands of major stakeholders, operators, port users and their alliance partners in sizeable blocks of volume.

“We are going to implement this single window policy and other fiscal policies directed by federal government of Nigeria. There are a number of other directives along this line meant to engineer development in the various sectors that are critical for economic recovery programme and of course you remember the removal of 7% VAT. VAT on LPG gas and all of that, these are all parts of efforts which government is taking to revive our economy and the Custom as agency, we don’t have any choice than to implement. We have the obligation to communicate things and let Nigerians understand the rationale behind some of these policies and how fascinated is there implementation,” Adeniyi assured.

Government, it was learnt, is losing about 30 per cent of its revenue to the arbitrary charges,  under-the-table payments and the huge number of uncleared goods at the ports based on the lack of National Single Window platform.

To become African maritime hub, some of the stakeholders who spoke in a separate interview with the  The Nation after listening to Adeniyi were unanimous that the country needs a single window platform to deliver the highest value in terms of efficiency, quality, reliability of service and remain competitive in the international market.

Nigeria, one of the stakeholders and maritime lawyer Dr Dipo Alaka said, remains the only country without a single-window platform in Africa in an age where information technology drives every process.

The country he said has continued to trail behind other African nations in the automation of processes at the seaports and urged the government to implement the NSW initiative.

A single window, according to him, “is an organic mixture of parties in a nation’s international trade. It uses the latest information communications technology (ICT) techniques, international data and messaging standards together with simplified, harmonised and remodelled information systems for data exchange to replace traditional paper-based information.

“Implementation of a single window system enables international (cross-border) traders to submit regulatory documents at a single location and/or single entity. Such documents are typically customs declarations, applications for import/export permits, and other supporting documents, such as certificates of origin and trading invoices,” Alaka said.

Another stakeholder and former President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents ( ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu said,  the National Single Window is the ultimate in port operation. “But it must be multi-agencies integrated for it to be successful.

“The bottleneck created by the individual Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as the Nigerian Ports Authority (‘NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), various terminal operators, shipping firms and other government agencies at ports and border stations must be dismantled by the Federal Government so that they can align their various e-platforms to the NSW platform,” Shittu said.

A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Transport (FMoT), who craved anonymity, said the Federal Government would generate additional $800 million yearly from the ports and border stations if government agencies key into the SW initiative.

The official urged the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to compel all approved government agencies at the ports to key into the platform to facilitate trade and generate more revenue. He also urged the National Assembly to back the initiative with a law.