The Director-General of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Zarah Audu, has announced significant progress in ongoing reforms aimed at improving port and customs efficiency across Nigeria.

Speaking after a briefing with Vice President Kashim Shettima on Thursday, who chairs PEBEC, Audu revealed that the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee has already begun implementing aspects of the proposed joint inspection framework, even though the Executive Order authorising it is still awaiting President Bola Tinubu’s signature.

According to Audu, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), who also chairs the committee, has initiated early steps toward joint inspection to reduce the turnaround time between when containers arrive at Nigerian ports and when they are cleared.

She stated, “We came to brief His Excellency the Vice President, who is the Chairman of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), on the progress we made from the first Ports and Customs meeting, which was hosted by the MD of NPA, who is also the Chairman of the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee. We spoke to him about the Executive Order, which is currently on Mr. President’s desk to be signed for the joint inspection.

“The MD proceeded to tell the Vice President that even though the Executive Order had not been signed, we have already started to take steps towards implementing the joint inspection, because he understands the need for businesses to have a quicker lap time between when their containers arrive in Nigeria and when they are cleared. We spoke extensively around how to improve the entire ecosystem around the Ports and Customs as a whole, importation and exportation of goods, helping Nigeria truly realise the potential economic dividends that could come out of having a stronger or better system in place.”

She explained that discussions with the Vice President also centred on strengthening the entire port ecosystem—from import and export processes to regulatory coordination—to unlock Nigeria’s economic potential.

“The Vice President, who is extremely passionate about solving and resolving the issues around some of the challenges that we face within the Ports and Customs ecosystem, also charged us with some next steps as to what he expects before the next meeting. We were also mandated to have smaller meetings and smaller clusters to brainstorm and find solutions to some of the challenges that we currently face.”

Audu’s comments come shortly after Nigeria’s federal government stated that it has intensified effort to actualise implementation of the National Single Window at the nation’s ports by 2026.

Vice President Kashim Shettima said the policy targeted at creating a single platform to harmonise documentation, minimise human contact, and bring full transparency to the cargo clearance process would be a game changer at the ports

Shettima spoke on Thursday during the second meeting of the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee at State House, Abuja.

He stated that the target was to reduce average cargo clearance time from 21 days to less than seven days by the end of 2026, and to position Nigerian ports among the top three most potent trade corridors in Africa.

Shettima said, “By the end of 2026, we aim to reduce average cargo clearance time in Nigeria to under seven days and to position our ports among the top three most efficient trade gateways on the continent.

“The forthcoming implementation of the National Single Window in the first quarter of next year will be a game changer, a single platform that harmonises documentation, minimises human contact, and brings full transparency to the cargo clearance process.”

Melissa Enoch

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