Maritime

FG Launches National Single Window Steering Committee

Published

1 year ago

April 22, 2024

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the decision of his administration to embark on a National Single Window (NSW) platform is to boost the country’s Ease of Doing Business Index as rated by the World Bank.
The NSW is an electronic portal that links all agencies and operators within the country’s supply chain to an integrated platform, which is to be domiciled at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Membership of the steering committee is drawn from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN), Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and some key private sector operators, which include importers, exporters, shipping lines, freight agents and banks.
Speaking while inaugurating the steering committee for the project at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President also said the platform is aimed at eliminating all forms of encumbrances to trade and commerce with a view to optimising revenue generation and ultimately boost the inflow of both local and foreign direct investment into the country.
The President, who decried the bottlenecks that characterise the country’s import, export and other supply chain activities, noted that the project is another milestone by his administration, saying the project would boost investment inflow by removing all forms of trade barriers in the import and export value chain.
“Nigeria’s import and export processes are bureaucratic, which lead to delays at the seaports. Such inefficiencies have adverse impacts on local businesses in the country and serve as potential impediment for foreign direct investments.
“To eliminate these challenges, today, we are launching the National Single Window project.
“The National Single Window Project is intended to enhance revenue generation through imports and exports and accelerate economic activities in the country.
“This project is a bold initiative to simplify and streamline our import and export clearance processes by eliminating bottlenecks, and harnessing best-in-class technology. This will result in reduced costs of doing business and position us to attract more foreign investment.
“The National Single Window Project will consist of four key pillars, namely: Single Window for Imports, Single Window for Exports, Port Community System and Scanning Services across our sea, air and land borders.
“The Project is not merely a technological advancement, but a strategic initiative to increase revenue generation by consolidating import and export related procedures into a unified electronic platform.
“The platform will serve as a single portal for the submission and approval of all import and export related documents, as well as a centralised payment system. It will be integrated with the various systems in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the import and export processes.
“The National Single Window project is a top priority for this Administration. As a result, I am directing all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies working on similar systems or information technology implementation projects to stop doing so in silos but align and consolidate such projects under the National Single Window Project’s scope.
“Today, I am also inaugurating the National Single Window project steering committee. The primary objectives of the Steering Committee are to provide support, oversight, strategic direction, and guidance to ensure the effective implementation of the project.
“You are entrusted with the responsibility of aligning this project with this government’s revenue enhancement objectives, setting the stage for a more efficient and responsive economy.
“I expect nothing short of excellence from this committee. You are the driving force behind the success of this crucial project, and your commitment and dedication will determine its outcome.
“Our collective effort will shape this project and play a key role in shaping the future of trade and commerce in Nigeria. I urge you to approach this task with a sense of purpose, unity, and a shared commitment for the betterment of our nation”, the President said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, who also spoke at the event, thanked President Tinubu for the project and approving FIRS and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as the project’s implementing agencies and financial managers.
Adedeji said the project aligns with the President’s commitment to stimulating Nigeria’s economy through enhanced trade facilitation and a bold step towards realising the country’s immense economic potential.
“As we strive towards achieving sustainable economic growth, we must embrace high-impact projects such as the National Single Window. By simplifying the government trade compliance process through a cutting-edge digital platform, we will unlock a myriad of economic benefits.
“This initiative will serve as a catalyst for achieving an average Gross Domestic Project (GDP) growth rate of seven per cent annually, propelling Nigeria to new heights of prosperity. The National Single Window is not just a technological advancement; it is the gateway to a more connected, efficient, and transparent system.
“By integrating our seaports, government agencies, and key stakeholders, we will create a seamless ecosystem that facilitates trade, saves time for businesses, and opens up a world of opportunities.
“From providing access to education and healthcare to enabling small businesses to reach global markets, digital connectivity is the key to unlocking Nigeria’s true potential.
“The heavy costs, delays, and inefficiencies at our ports has been a constant burden. It is estimated that a staggering $4 billion annually is lost due to these inefficiencies.
“By addressing revenue leakage prevention and facilitating effective trade, we will reclaim these lost resources and channel them towards the betterment of our society.
“Steering Committee, National Single Window 2 Paperless trade alone is projected to bring an annual economic benefit of around $2.7 billion; a testament to the transformative power of this initiative.
“The success stories of countries that have embraced Single Window systems are evident. Singapore, Korea, Kenya and Saudi Arabia have all witnessed significant improvements in trade efficiency after implementing similar initiatives. It is now Nigeria’s turn to join the ranks of these progressive nations and reap the rewards of a streamlined, digitised trade environment.
“The National Single Window is not just about facilitating trade, it is also a powerful tool for expanding our tax base and capturing the informal e-Commerce sector. By providing a unified, modern digital platform for expeditious paperless cargo clearance and logistics, we will bring more businesses into the formal economy, ensuring that everyone contributes their fair share to our nation’s development.
“Moreover, by linking the Nigerian National Single Window with other African nations, we will expedite cargo movement and optimise intra-Africa trade.
“This will position Nigeria as a leader in regional trade facilitation, fostering stronger economic ties with our neighbors and creating new opportunities for growth and collaboration.
“The current international trade environment is complex, involving disparate systems and requiring an average of 40 documents per transaction. Nigeria’s lack of a comprehensive trade facilitation system has led to bottlenecks, corruption, port delays, decreased revenue, and a negative business environment. The National Single Window is a decisive response to these challenges.

“By improving trade facilitation, revenue generation, economic growth, transparency, security, and streamlined processes, we will transform Nigeria into a global trade powerhouse”, the FIRS boss explained.

Maritime

NCC Announces Telecoms Facilities Protection Measures

Published

2 weeks ago

August 18, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Communications Commission has announced fresh measures to strengthen the protection of the nation’s critical digital infrastructure, in line with a presidential directive to secure assets vital to the country’s economy and security.

Telecommunications companies have experienced a sharp rise in vandalism targeting critical infrastructure in recent months, particularly since May 2025. This wave of deliberate attacks has affected major operators such as MTN, Airtel, and Glo, as well as tower companies like IHS Towers

The NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Aminu Maida, said the initiative to protect the facilities is aimed at ensuring the resilience of telecommunications and other digital infrastructure against cyberattacks, vandalism, and natural disasters.

“Protecting our critical information infrastructure is not just a regulatory mandate but a national security priority,” Maida said in a statement, after a stakeholders’ engagement in Abuja, recently.

He stated further that, “We are working closely with operators, security agencies, and other stakeholders to ensure proactive risk management, rapid incident response, and improved resilience.”

Operators reported at least five vandalism incidents daily since May 2025, compared to two per day prior to this period, amounting to 445 cases over 88 days.

The most severely hit regions include Delta, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Edo, Kwara, Kaduna, Ogun, Lagos, Kogi, Ekiti, Osun, Imo, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The NCC identified telecoms base stations, data centres, undersea cable landing stations, and other core network components as part of the critical assets requiring enhanced protection.

Industry players at the meeting welcomed the move, citing repeated incidents of fibre cuts, equipment theft, and sabotage that have disrupted connectivity across the country.

The initiative follows the President’s earlier directive to government agencies to align with the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy, which prioritises the protection of critical information infrastructure.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria has repeatedly called for urgent intervention, including involvement from security agencies and adoption of the Critical National Infrastructure Act to protect telecom sites.

Maritime

Bureaucracy, Relationship Gaps, Bane Of Maritime Safety Investigation – NSIB

Published

2 weeks ago

August 18, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has said there is a gap in the relationship between the Bureau and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on investigating accidents in the maritime sector.

The Bureau’s Director General, Capt. Alex Badeh Jr., who disclosed this recently in a chat with journalists, stated that full implementation of the NSIB Establishment Act 2022 would drastically reduce serious incidents and accidents and improve safety in all modes of transportation in Nigeria.

He, however, expressed regret that the bureau only gets information about most occurrences in the inland waterways from the media, emphasising that, as government organisations funded with taxpayers’ money, NIMASA and NSIB were supposed to work as a team, but lamented that bureaucracy was interfering with safety in the maritime industry.

He also stated that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and NIWA were willing to collaborate with the NSIB and expressed optimism that the bureau would also bring NIMASA on board.

‘‘Engagement of investigations in other modes of transportation is a work in progress. Some of them will resume by September. We intend to engage retired personnel, and of course, we hope to get people seconded from the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and NIMASA, train them and teach them the procedures of our investigations”, he said.

Taking a cue from the aviation industry’s investigation of serious incidents and accidents, Badeh insisted that its inquiry into rail and maritime was not to apportion blame but reveal what led to such an occurrence.

This, he said, would not preclude any other form of investigation, including investigations into actions in civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings.

According to him, NIMASA’s total cooperation in fulfilling its mandate would enable the country to operate according to the procedure and policy requirements of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) while also plugging the system’s loopholes.

He argued that Nigeria needed to comply with the international standards for serious incidents and accident investigations.

He said this would further bolster stakeholders’ confidence in Nigeria’s system, increase its ratings in the comity of nations and prevent recurrence through the recommendations of its safety reports.

Badeh continued that to meet the expected standards, the bureau had already drafted the Maritime Safety Investigation Regulations 2025, the Railways (Investigation of Accident and Incidents) Regulation 2024, and the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 2025, hoping that all concerns would accept their implementations.

He debunked the notion in some quarters that the entrance of NSIB into accident investigation in the marine sector would lead to overlapping of functions in the industry.

According to him, the IMO recognised NIMASA as an investigator of marine accidents because the system was vacuumed. Still, it maintained that the emergence of NSIB had closed the gap in the system.

Badeh explained further that the bureau was on the verge of engaging investigators in the rail and maritime sectors to effectively investigate occurrences in those modes of transportation, assuring that some professionals would come on board by September and October this year to beef up its operations.

He expressed optimism that the NSIB was up to conducting a seamless investigation in the maritime sector, stressing that the bureau had already agreed with the Nigerian Navy to carry out this exercise.

Maritime

UNDP, REA Partner On Clean Energy Transition

Published

2 weeks ago

August 18, 2025

The Tide

The United Nations Development Programme and the Rural Electrification Agency have signed an agreement aimed at accelerating Nigeria’s clean energy transition, boosting innovation, and equipping a new generation of professionals for a future-ready energy sector.

The collaboration, formalised at a signing ceremony in Abuja, will be anchored on five key pillars: energising education and innovation; scaling skills development; supporting state-level policy reforms; unlocking innovative financing; and advancing research and public engagement.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of REA, Abba Aliyu, described the partnership as “a game-changer” for Nigeria’s renewable energy ambitions.

He said the initiative will build on ongoing Federal Government renewable energy scale-up efforts, unlock opportunities in local content and manufacturing, and drive sustainable investment.

“Our goal is to position Nigeria as a renewable energy hub, reduce governance costs, and catalyse innovation, research and development”, Aliyu said.

He explained that the initiative would build on ongoing Federal Government renewable energy scale-up programmes, expand local content and manufacturing capacity, and attract sustainable investments into the sector.

Aliyu stressed that unlocking opportunities in clean energy would require practical strategies on local content, domestic manufacturing, and innovative finance, noting that these measures would cut governance costs while advancing sustainability.

The REA boss added that “the REA-UNDP partnership pillars are specifically targeted at advancing ongoing efforts in the clean energy space in Nigeria, catalysing opportunities across critical ecosystems and unlocking the full potential in innovation, R&D, local expertise and sustainable investment.”

On her part, the UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Elsie G. Attafuah, said the collaboration represented a bold step toward a more sustainable and prosperous Nigeria, adding that it would not only expand access to clean energy but also drive innovation, youth empowerment, and job creation.

“This collaboration with the Rural Electrification Agency is a bold step toward a more sustainable and prosperous Nigeria.

“Our partnership will not only provide access to clean energy but also serve as a powerful engine for innovation, youth empowerment, and job creation. We are moving beyond simply powering communities to igniting their full potential.

“We are moving beyond simply powering communities to igniting their full potential”, she said.

Attafuah also highlighted the importance of processing Nigeria’s natural resources, such as lithium, into value-added renewable energy products like lithium battery systems, while embedding innovation and research into the nation’s learning institutions to catalyse the creation of green jobs.

Under the agreement, UNDP’s University Innovation Pods and Maker Spaces will be integrated into REA’s Energising Education Programme to transform federal universities and teaching hospitals into hubs of practical innovation.

The deal will also scale REA’s NEXTGEN initiative, designed to train a new generation of clean energy professionals, thereby creating a national talent pipeline and addressing youth unemployment in the sector.

At the subnational level, UNDP and REA will provide policy and technical support to help states implement the Electricity Act and harmonise energy policies.

On financing, both organisations will leverage blended finance models to de-risk renewable energy projects, attract private capital, and strengthen the Rural Electrification Fund.

Additionally, they will jointly produce robust data on sustainable energy progress and run public engagement campaigns to drive policy support and consumer adoption of clean energy.

According to the partners, the initiative reflects UNDP’s commitment to locally driven, inclusive, and resilient development, as well as REA’s mandate to bring sustainable energy to unserved and underserved communities.

Both agencies expressed optimism that the collaboration would fast-track Nigeria’s journey towards universal access to clean energy and a greener economy.