Agents under the umbrella of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), have lauded Mohammed Bello-Koko, managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for putting an end to the decade-long traffic gridlock on the Apapa and Tin-Can Ports access roads.
They gave the commendation when Emenike Nwokeji, national president of ANLCA in the company of Taiwo Mustapha, chairman of ANLCA Board, led executives of the highly influential trade association on a working visit to the NPA Headquarters in Marina.
They described the initiative as uncommon as it has ended the protracted traffic gridlock undermining the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Responding, Bello-Koko said breaking the jinx of the age-long traffic gridlock that was causing huge revenue losses and reputational damage to Nigeria, was a product of NPA’s relentless commitment to doing the right thing.
He said NPA entered an open-minded collaboration with the Lagos State Government and relevant stakeholders.
He reiterated the Authority’s commitment to enhancing the ease of doing business and deepening Nigeria’s trade balance through export promotion.
“We are committed to fulfilling the priorities as enunciated in the Presidential and Ministerial Performance Bond which we signed, and to sustain the sanity on the port access road, which has resulted in the unprecedented increase in export numbers. We have developed a Service Level Agreement for cargo evacuation, and we would be implementing with renewed vigour to sustain the growth in exports necessary towards achieving the national trade surplus required to grow the domestic economy,” Bello-Koko said.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its foreign trade report for the first quarter of 2024 released on Sunday highlighted that Nigeria recorded a N6.5 trillion trade surplus between January and March of 2024.
NBS stated that Nigeria’s exports totalled N19.1 trillion and total imports stood at N12.6 trillion, indicating a trade surplus of N6.5 trillion.
A trade surplus is an economic indicator of a positive trade balance in which the exports of a nation outweigh the country’s imports.
