The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has revealed that Nigerian Inland Dry Ports are contributing significantly to trade facilitation in the country.
Speaking in Lagos, Oyetola commended the Kaduna and Kano dry ports for supporting trade operations in Nigeria.
He said the Funtua port in Katsina State was commissioned recently, while those in Abia, Plateau, and Borno States are at various stages of completion.
According to a statement signed by the Director of Information & Public Relations, Mrs Anastasia Ogbonna, the Minister noted that the Ministry’s policy reforms and agency implementations have yielded significant improvements in export volumes over the past two years, as evidenced by the positive trade balances reported by the National Bureau of Statistics due to reforms at the export terminals.
“Tied to this is the implementation of the National Single Window (NSW), a platform which streamlines trade compliance processes and links ports with relevant government agencies and stakeholders to create a seamless, efficient system.
“To complement this National Single Window project, the Ministry and the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) are finalising the Port Community System, an electronic platform to centralise and automate processes among stakeholders in port services.”
He explained that “this will serve as a one-stop shop for all stakeholders in the port system,” the Minister noted.
While at the commissioning of the Funtua port in Katsina in 2024, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) said the Inland Dry Port (IDP) initiative is aimed at decongesting the seaports while growing the country’s economy through improved export.
He revealed that the dry ports are designed to ease export processes, save time and costs, and create access for more people to participate in trade.
“The Inland Dry Port is all about export, and we know that there is so much to be exported from Nigeria,” adding that the Funtua IDP will serve as a catalyst for export in Nigeria.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then