From left: Acting Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Bashir Adeniyi briefs Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko and Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Hon. Onari Brown during the synergy renewal visit in Abuja.

The Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, has renewed cooperation with the Nigeria Customs Service NCS in line with its efforts to boost non-oil exports, especially agro- allied products and also facilitate trade.

The renewed synergy was expressed when the Managing Director/CEO of NPA, Mohammed Bello -Koko visited the acting Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adewale MFR at the Nigeria Customs headquarters, Abuja on Monday August 28, 2023.

The meeting focused on enabling the ease of exports processing by eliminating all procedural bottlenecks that constitute delays and affect the competitiveness of Nigerian goods especially agro-allied products in the international marketplace.

The Customs-boss, who commended the NPA for creating Export Processing Terminals (EPTs), which have advanced the fortunes of non-oil exports, assured that the service was finalising efforts at streamlining the multiplicity of Customs Units / checkpoints, evacuation of overtime cargo from the ports, speedy relocation of the Customs facility standing on the rail link of Apapa Ports and resolving all challenges to pave way for the optimisation of Ikorodu Lighter Terminal.

It is expected that this renewed collaboration between the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigeria Customs Service will add fresh impetus to the efforts of President Bola Tinubu at growing the national economy. This is also given that balance of trade is crucial to strengthening the value of the naira.

Recall that the Bello-Koko-led management of the NPA had introduced several initiatives aimed at boosting non-oil exports through the nation’s seaports. Part of these efforts was the creation of Export Processing Terminals across all port locations in the country, among several others with a view to eliminating the challenges associated with the processing of non-oil exports in the country.

Available statistics show that these initiatives are beginning to yield results as a total of 3.5 million metric tonnes of non-oil export trade were facilitated through the nation’s seaports in the first six months of 2023 (January- June).

These statistics further show that the seaports recorded about 2.8 million metric tonnes of non-oil exports in 2019, which increased to 3.8 million metric tonnes in 2020. The non-oil export volumes further grew in 2021 to 3.89 million metric tonnes, and even more exponentially by over 5.1 million metric tonnes in 2022. 

 The MD, had while speaking on this rare feat, assured that NPA would not rest its oars in its determination to boost Nigeria’s non-oil exports, as it would work closely with other government agencies such as the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Shippers’ Council and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, to ensure that imports and exports are cleared out of the ports faster.

“We need the Customs to reduce the time it takes to scan and inspect cargo because the faster it takes, the earlier the importers and exporters take their goods,” he said.

Bello-Koko however admitted that NPA’s collaboration with Customs had played great roles in achieving the feat and assured that the NPA would deepen the collaboration, which would help it to achieve more than it did in the previous years.

Recall that the NPA had also created time belts for exports; created a lane for export to improve the speed of moving export to the ports, while the Lagos State Government has been working with it to enforce traffic regulations, especially along the port corridors, which played key role in reducing congestion.