The Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola CON, has described the Single Window System as the needed panacea for actualizing the abundant potentials the nation’s blue economy holds.
Speaking at the National Single Window Stakeholders Forum in Lagos earlier today, the Minister asserted that only by prioritising this initiative, will Nigeria be able to unlock the true potential of the nation’s maritime resources.
“The National Single Window (NSW) presents an avenue that paves the way for sustained growth, enhanced trade, and increased investment for generations to come, ” Oyetola said.
According to him, ” Recognizing the importance of the NSW project, the Ministry and its agencies have ramped efforts to address infrastructure gaps and deploy systems and equipment necessary for a smooth transition to the new platform. We are committed to creating an enabling environment that fosters investor confidence, promotes transparency, and attracts the investment needed to unlock the full potential of our sector.”
Oyetola noted that the Singke Window System is a strategic enabler for port efficiency, improved revenue collection, and enhanced transparency.
“Countries like Singapore and the Netherlands have demonstrated how Single Window systems can revolutionise port operations, elevating their status as global trade hubs. Nigeria can achieve similar success by fully embracing this initiative,” he highlighted.
The he further disclosed that the Ministry, through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) alongside technical support from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), has advanced the development of Port Community System (PCS) that enables seamless electronic exchange of information among port operators in compliance with FAL Convention, adding that it will integrate with the NSW platform upon completion.
Also speaking, the Managing Director, Nigeria Ports Authority, Abubakar Dantsoho described the Single Window System as “the most strategic port development initiative since the port reform of 2003”.
“This concrete move by His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu to implement the National Single Window in Nigeria will deepen competiveness of our ports and position the good people of Nigeria to greater benefits of global trends,” Dantsoho opined.
Earlier, the Director, NSW Project Secretariat, Tola Fakolade, said the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business, defines the system as the standardised information of documents that is lodged through a single portal.
He explained that the single interface, when implemented in Nigeria, will eliminate the incidence of taking documents from one agency to another, saying that the system will harmonise data, transparency, and leverage technology to track the flow of import and export processes.
Signed
Anastasia Ogbonna
Director (Information & PR)
