FG sensitises S/East, S/South stakeholders on National Single Window implementation

The National Single Window (NSW) Secretariat in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has deepened understanding and support for the ongoing implementation of the NSW project among stakeholders in the South East and South-South region.

The National Single Window project, according to the organisers, which is expected to be operational by first quarter (Q1) of 2026 as directed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is aimed at achieving the $1 trillion economy by year 2030 in line with world economic growth projections for countries.

In his welcome address, Tola Fakolade, Director of the NSW Secretariat, emphasised the government’s commitment to simplifying trade processes and improving transparency across Nigeria’s ports.

Fakolade applauded the efforts of the Nigeria customs service, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and others for their pioneering roles in digitisation of trade processes, while he also provided a project update, sharing key milestones and next steps in the NSW rollout.

Fakolade assured the stakeholders of Federal Governments full commitment towards deploying the NSW to enable the country become a new business destination, while hoping that all bureaucratic bottlenecks hindering trade would be drastically reduced.

“It will ensure transparency in the system and enthrone predictability when transacting business, eventually reducing cost of doing Business and person to person contacts in the trade ecosystem,” he stated.

In his keynote address, Kingsley Igwe, Registrars, Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), highlighted the NSW’s benefits to traders, noting that importers and exporters stand to gain from reduced bottlenecks, faster clearance and improved competitiveness.

He urged stakeholders to take advantage of the system and leverage it in their businesses, describing it as a one -Stop Shop platform that houses all government related revenue collection agencies, importers and exporters as well as other regulatory agencies, granting them a single access for declarations.

In his opening remarks, Bashir Adeniyi, Comptroller General of Customs, represented by the Zonal Coordinator, Customs Zone C, Headquarters Port Harcourt, Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Kamal Mohammed, welcomed the stakeholders, insisting that the event was a defining moment for trade facilitation.

The Customs boss called for collaboration of all stakeholders to make the project work, emphasising that no single organisation can achieve meaningful success in isolation but through collaboration.

He stated that with National Single Window, clearance process and procedures as well as documentation would be easier and faster, thereby reducing cost of trade even as he said that collective purpose was the watchword.

Also present at the event, the President of the Association of Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Emeka Nwokeoji and the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Shippers Council, Pius Akutah, applauded the initiative and called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to ensure its success