NPA, PEBEC Move to Enhance Port Efficiency, Ease of Doing Business

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), yesterday in Lagos launched the Ports and Customs Efficiency Commitee (PCEC), a move aimed at enhanced efficiency and ease of doing business at the nation’s sea ports.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the PCEC, the director general, PEBEC, Zahrah Mustapha, said improving efficiencies at the nation’s seaports would reduce cargo dwell time, vessel turnaround and turnover for Customers.

Mustapha said the committee was launched to change the narrative of missed opportunities in the maritime sector and as well unlock potential opportunities, and enhancing Nigeria’s economy.

According to her, “By improving efficiencies in our ports, we can drastically reduce the average cargo dwell time and turnover time for customers, eliminate duplication of documentation and manual processes, and ensure customers’ satisfaction. 

“This is not just another one of our reforms, but this is about resilience, it’s about unlocking potential opportunities, and enhancing Nigeria’s economy. This is not just a committee made up of government force for a difference, this also has a lot of private sector stakeholders,” she stated.

She stated that Customs Committee was established to go beyond identifying the problems but to begin implementing the solutions that are long overdue.

“Nigeria loses a lot every single day due to some of our inefficiencies. These are not just numbers, these are missed opportunities. They represent jobs not created, goods not delivered, investments not realised, and economic growth that is unnecessarily delayed,” she added. 

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of NPA, Abubakar Dantsoho, said the authority is currently adressing four major pillars that are critical to repositioning the nation’s seaports and make it compete effectively with regional counterparts.

He said investment in infrastructure, equipment, technology, and human capacity would improve competitiveness and operational efficiency of the nation’s seqports.

Dantsoho noted that port infrastructure, particularly in Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports, is aged and in dire need of rehabilitation.

 “Tin Can was constructed about 48 years ago, Apapa almost 100 years ago—yet no major rehabilitation has taken place all these years,” he said.

He added that recent government approval for the reconstruction of both ports would significantly improve berth depth and cargo handling capacity.

On the technological front, the NPA MD disclosed that the agency is working closely with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to deploy the Port Community System (PCS), which he described as the backbone for the National Single Window.