The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adeniyi, has said the Service is taking deliberate steps to reduce the cost of doing business at Nigeria’s ports by simplifying processes and facilitating trade to boost exports and economic competitiveness.
Speaking in an interview with Arise News on Friday, Adeniyi stressed that Nigeria must address the challenges confronting exporters, particularly small exporters, to unlock the country’s trade potential.
“It’s important from the statistics that we’ve put out there and shared by virtually every stakeholder in Nigeria, our percentage, our volume of people in Africa is still low and exports from all of these African countries that will drive big volumes. So it is very, very obvious that we are not doing well enough and a number of challenges have been identified. Part of them is the processes at our ports,” he said.
“Some of these processes could be very, very long and we all need to come up with simplified processes that can help us turn up the volume of our export, that can help us to conduct businesses in the port in a faster way. So we’re already on the road to doing that in Nigeria. We have a dedicated terminal now for exports and our statistics in the last two years have shown that we are right on the right trajectory towards ramping up the volume of our exports in Nigeria.”
On Nigeria’s role in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Adeniyi said coordination among stakeholders was key to maximising opportunities.
“The first is to promote a shared understanding amongst all the stakeholders involved that we now need to move in a coordinated manner. So for so long we’ve been having progresses in silos. There has been progress in the payment system. We heard that Afrexim Bank has initiated the PAPS program, the initiative. AfCFTA Secretariat is also making a lot of progress in what they are doing, capacity building and things like that. The WCO is encouraging customs administrations to embrace tools of trade facilitations,” he explained.
“It’s now time for us to bring all of this under one roof and let those initiatives and reforms, let them speak to each other. I went to Biasra Africa to let them know that it’s not enough for us to be having progress in each of those places and they are not having handshake with each other. So the first major step is that Afrexim Bank, the Secretariat of the Free Trade, they have all accepted that customs should also move with them.”
“We need to move together. We need to make progress together and this explains why we are convening that conference in Abuja to bring all of our regulatory authorities, all of our facilitators, but most importantly the economic operators. We also need them to come and tell us where their shoe is pinching so that all of us together will be able to get coordinated solutions to those problems.”
The Customs chief said his administration has been intentional in pursuing reforms that support exporters, importers, and ease of doing business.
“Well, I have been very, very intentional in pursuing policies that speak to trade facilitation because I know that when we get it right in trade facilitation it will help us to, you know, increase turnover, it will help us to increase volume and then it will translate into revenue. You know I’m on extra time, you know, kind of injury time as Comptroller-General of Customs. Just recently my service was extended and there were some key performance indicators that were given to me.”
“Ease of doing business is there to, you know, facilitate the implementation of the African continental free trade. National single window is there which we want to launch the first quarter of next year. So what we’ve been doing in the last two years are stepping stones, are platforms for us to be able to achieve this.”
“We already have an AEO program, we piloted it last year and now we have several companies in Nigeria that are enjoying the benefits of expedited clearance in our ports, reduced documentation and all of that. We’ve been playing a very, very active role in the implementation of national single window. Our officers are there working with the secretariat of national single window to get us up and running.”
“I have a lot of, we have networking and, you know, cooperation and support from the secretariat of the African continental free trade and to demonstrate that there are some customs administrations that we’ve been working with directly to ensure that there is harmonization of our policies and interoperability of our systems. Bennett Customs is one of them. We’ve really advanced, we’ve gotten to an advanced stage on how we can launch a system that allows our systems to speak to each other. This is what we intend to replicate with other customs administrations so that we can benefit more from the dividends of trade facilitations.”
Reacting to Nigeria’s hosting of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2027 in Lagos, Adeniyi said customs would play a major role but emphasised the need for a whole-of-society approach.
“We are all, we were all very excited. I spoke with the minister of trade yesterday who received the IATF banner on behalf of the government and the people of Nigeria. And from what we have seen here in August and the previous editions, it’s a very big spectacle.”
“And it’s not just about customs, it’s a whole lot of society approach that it requires. Right from the airport, the kind of reception, how we receive our visitors, how we make them feel comfortable, the logistic, the very huge logistics of organizing an event as magnificent as this. You and I have been all over all the last 48 hours. We’ve seen big centers, big venues, you know, and there seems to be high level of coordination. So it goes beyond customs. Customs will do our part.”
“We have a regime of temporary admission that allows exhibitors, those participating trade fairs to bring in their goods on a temporary basis. We have convention that covers it. And what we just do for IATF will be to simplify those procedures so that those who are coming for the trade fair will not have any hassles either at the airports or at the seaport.”
“But like I said, you know, it requires, you know, the cooperation and the coordination of everybody. Immigration will be involved. Of course, security will be involved. Transportation will be involved. Our big hotels will have to, you know, help their game so that they can benefit, take maximum benefits from this. Lagos state government, this event is going to host in Lagos. So, you know, so it’s really, really very huge. And what a big opportunity for Nigeria to announce its presence as, you know, somebody that promotes a competitive economy.”
On the outlook for intra-African trade, Adeniyi said Nigeria must focus on harnessing its domestic and regional markets.
“Yeah, it was actually brought out in the fireside chat between the SG and Geoffrey in the first session. And that’s the fact that at the end of the day, the posture of President Trump may actually position him as a friend of Africa. And that is trying to encourage us to look inward and think about our economy first, before we think of market access elsewhere.”
“There is enough for us to do in Africa. You know, there is enough market for us to trade within ourselves. I mean, we’re talking of population that is very, very huge.”
“So, President Bola Ametinobu has rightly identified this. And one of his strong pillars, his policy, is to make trade a major focus for economic development. So, making Nigerian economy more competitive, you will see a number of initiatives. National Single Window, I talked about that, is one of them. Decongestion port is one of them. It’s also supporting initiatives that customs is doing to modernize, to bring in authorized economic operator program, trade facilitation programs, and things like that.”
“For now, we have shown that when we take these giant steps around the trade facilitation ecosystem, the result at the end of the day, even if we don’t say we are pursuing it, is revenue. Half-year revenue in 2025 for customs and other revenue agencies has shown that we’re on the right track and given all indicators, we’re likely going to surpass our targets in 2025. So, we are still going to be very high, you know, very bold and intentional in the areas of trade facilitation.”
“We are going to be speaking more to our stakeholders, our exporters, our importers, address issues that concern them so that, you know, we will be able to make our economy more competitive,”he said.
Boluwatife Enome
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