Shippers Harp On Africa’s Economic Dev

The African continent is championing a one-stop-shop to
international trade that will cut across all its region and countries without
barriers.

This was the
deliberation in a two-day sub-regional workshop on single window organized by
the union of African shipper’s council (UASC) and Nigeria Shipper’s Council
(NSC) recently.

The theme of the
workshop was “single window environment in the west and central African
sub-region: panacea for economic development”

The workshop was
attended by the countries in west and central African  region namely Ghana, Togo ,Gambia , Sierra
Leon ,Mali ,Guinea ,Conakry,
Niger ,Senegal , Burkina ,Faso ,and
Liberia , Cote D ivoire Mauritania and   Nigeria .

The objective of the gathering was meant to give
participating countries the
overview of the concept, update them on the progress, regionally and
globally,  in the establishment of the
single window and recommend a systematic approach to the implementation of the
project in the sub-region.

The workshop on the single Window is designed to overcome
the complex system of data submission and regulatory control while the primary
objective is the single submission of data, establishing a single window and
also necessitates a major rationalization of the current approach and
requirement, especially the elimination of existing duplicative data use,
whenever possible. The workshop was aim to sensitize governments and critical
stakeholders in the sub region on the capability of the single window to serve
as panacea for the poor level of trade facilitation in the sub-region and to
motivate authorities and international trade practitioners to specifically work
towards actualizing the single window environment in the respective countries
and in the sub-region.

In his opening remarks, the executive secretary of the
Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), Captain Adamu Biu said that the main value for
having a single window for a country or economy is to increase efficiency
through time and cost savings for traders in the dealing with various
government authorities for obtaining the relevant clearance and permits for
moving cargoes across national borders.

He noted that when the single window is implemented in the
sub-region it will definitely be a panacea in reducing the consistent
challenges and complaints the union of African shippers’ council (UASC) has
been contending with.

The workshop was attended of the ministers of finance,
transport and trade and investments. They were all represented by their
permanent secretaries.