FG to save $3bn annually via National SingleWindow –Oyetola

•It’ll help achieve $1 trillion economy by 2031, says FIRS chair

By Steve Agbota

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Tuesday, said that the implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) would save the federal government over $3 billion in revenue leakages annually.

Oyetola who disclosed this at the NSW stakeholders’ forum, said that the system would address supply chain disruptions that affect over 70 per cent of logistics companies in Nigeria.

According to him, the system is strategically positioned to enhance transparency by reducing redundancies in the trade process, which will allow for the elimination of revenue leakages—an amount estimated to exceed $3 billion annually.

“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. We are advancing multimodal connectivity by improving road, rail, and inland waterway links to and from the ports.

“These improvements aim to reduce transportation costs, enhance logistics, and boost trade. For example, the Ministry in collaboration with the Lagos State Government, cleared the age-long Apapa – Tincan – Mile 2 traffic for landside operations and provided tugboats, mooring boats, pilot cutters, bollards, and fenders across all port locations for effective seaside operations,” he said.

By implementing the NSW with all its component parts, he said Nigeria can unlock unprecedented efficiency in port operations, reduce dwell times, and lower the cost of doing business in Nigeria’s maritime sector.

“Based on the experiences from global studies and the examples of countries who have advanced in similar initiatives, the Single Window journey promises significant impact on Nigeria’s Marine and Blue Economy,” he said.

However, the Minister of State for Finance and Economy, Doris Uzoka-Anite, said, “Indeed, global paperless trade, which we will see on the NSW platform, is estimated to bring an annual economic benefit of around $2.7bn to Nigeria.”

She added that countries like Singapore, Korea, UAE, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia have already seen significant improvements in trade efficiency after implementing their own single-window systems.

According to her, by simplifying trade processes, the NSW enables Nigerian businesses to seamlessly connect with global markets.

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji,  then said that the NSW project represents a pivotal stride in Nigeria’s journey towards economic transformation.

“The NSW Project is not just a step towards improving Nigeria’s trade processes but a leap towards unlocking the vast potential of our economy, contributing significantly to the realisation of a $1 trillion economy by 2031.

“For long, Nigeria’s trade facilitation processes have been hampered by bureaucratic hurdles, leading to delays at the ports, increased costs of doing business, and a substantial erosion of Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global marketplace.

“This has resulted in substantial revenue

losses to the country, reduction in foreign direct investments, and hindered the full realization of our nation’s economic potential. I believe by establishing an integrated platform that seamlessly connects all the critical actors -seaports, airports, free trade zones, government agencies, financial institutions, and the private sector – we are set to revolutionize the way we conduct international trade,” he added.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, stated that the platform interconnects all stakeholders involved in foreign trade and enables them to perform trade procedures on one platform.

“It provides a comprehensive online environment for all governmental and business users such as importers, exporters, commercial banks, carriers, ministries, and other government agencies to perform trade operations,” Dantsoho said.

He said that the NSW operation is the global trade best practice for the electronic exchange of information relating to over 500 million twenty-foot equivalent unit movements and billions of tonnes of cargo for sea, air and land transport modes.

Dantsoho maintained that the NSW is pivotal to deepening the competitiveness of the ports and position Nigerians to reap greater benefits from global trade.

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