Maritime and logistics experts have called on the newly established Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) to champion the implementation of a single-window port system.
This mechanism, featuring full ecosystem visibility across all trade nodes, is projected to secure robust regulatory control and seamless trade facilitation
The call was made in Lagos during the three-day Executive Course on Logistics and Trade Facilitation for Blue Economy Growth, hosted by the International Maritime Institute of Nigeria (IMION). Addressing stakeholders, the Director-General of the African Centre for Supply Chain Management, Dr. Obiora Madu, stressed the urgency of connecting traders, regulators, customs, terminal operators, and the market into a singular, continuous digital workflow.
While acknowledging that every port regulator operates under a legitimate mandate, Dr. Madu observed that uncoordinated frameworks collectively trigger duplication, conflicting requirements, and repeated inspections.
He cautioned that such operational bottlenecks inevitably lead to costly delays and push up the overall cost of doing business at the nation’s ports.
Therefore, he urged NPERA to demand clarity if it finds conflicting mandates, stating that good mandates can produce bad outcomes when poorly coordinated. He emphasized that the trade process should rather be one data submission, one inspection (where appropriate), payment process, decision trail, and accountability framework.
According to him, the multi-agency control challenge leads to undue duplication and unclear accountability, among others. Against this background, he said the government should create a proper Key Performance Index (KPI) for its agencies and traders, where the customer’s experience should be the ultimate system.
Consequently, he called for trade simplification in terms of documentation, predictability, transparency, digitisation, and release procedures. According to him, the question should be whether a business implementation has actually reduced the cost and time of trading.
Madu explained that businesses need to know what is required, who requires it, how much it costs, how long it should take, what happens if requirements change, and where a decision can be challenged.
Moreover, he stated that modern inspection should increasingly use technology, intelligence and risk management, with benefits including faster inspection, better security, reduced fiscal handling, greater transparency and better targeting.
According to him, “technology should reduce friction, not digitise bureaucracy,” and should improve, rather than create more bureaucracy along the line.
He argued that “more control has always meant more friction,” while excessive friction brings delay, more cost, and opportunity for corruption, while modern trade facilitation seeks better control, not less control.
This, he noted, is contrary to the traditional approach, which thinks that more control equals more security; more documents mean more control; more inspections equal more assurance; and more agencies mean more oversight.
In the meantime, Madu described compliance as a major part of trade facilitation, stating that non-compliant trade documentation is a clog on trade facilitation.
Meanwhile, he explained that a port can be modern, a road excellent, a rail (network) available and a vessel ready, but if trade procedures are slow, fragmented, and unpredictable, value is still lost because “infrastructure moves goods, but trade facilitation moves trade.”
On the imperative of trade facilitation, he said it is “fundamentally about making legitimate trade faster, cheaper, simpler, more predictable and more transparent” without compromising set rules.
One challenge with the public sector in Nigeria is a lack of collaboration, he added, and technology has made risk control easier, while trade friction causes delays through documentation challenges, inspection, uncertainty, multiple agencies, informal costs, higher cost of doing business.
Trade facilitation means smarter control, not less control, and that it enables the ease of business, increases activities, growth, lower transaction costs, faster trade, leads to better cash flow, more competitive business, more trade and investment, and finally economic growth.
Also speaking on the topic,
“Sustainability and Risk Management in Blue Economy Logistics,” the Executive Director, Africa Green Economy and Sustainability Initiative, Dr Eugene Itua, said sustainability and risk management are central to ensuring that these activities balance economic efficiency, environmental protection and social equity.
The second day culminated in an exclusive, high-impact study tour aboard Nigeria’s modern capital ship, the NNS Kada. Built by the renowned Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Group at its Albwardy facility in the UAE, this LST 100 class vessel was officially commissioned on 21 May 2023. Today, she reigns as the largest and most advanced warship in West Africa, serving as a monumental symbol of regional naval power.
The strategic Naval tour provided critical operational insights, effectively resolving core maritime security questions raised during the technical sessions.
Visibly inspired, participants described the onboard experience as an invaluable professional asset, expressing profound appreciation for the rare access to the naval masterpiece.
Stay tuned to Sooth News for our upcoming, exclusive multimedia feature documenting the full, inside story of the NNS KADA expedition.
