The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Abubakar Dantsoho, has encouraged traders and investors to take advantage of the agency’s streamlined export procedures and emerging opportunities to enhance economic growth.
Speaking at the NPA’s ‘Special Day’ during the Kaduna International Trade Fair, Dantsoho assured stakeholders that the agency remains open for collaboration beyond the event.
“I warmly invite you to engage with our business development team at the NPA pavilion and explore our fully interactive online real-time website, www.nigerianports.gov.ng, for growth opportunities,” he said.
Dantsoho highlighted the Authority’s efforts to boost the domestic economy by improving trade balance, particularly through the establishment of Export Process Terminals (EPTs) designed to ease the previously cumbersome exportation of Nigerian goods.
According to him, “The EPTs were conceptualised to serve as a one-stop shop for cargo consolidation, stuffing, documentation, packaging, certification, and onward shipment through electronic call-up to the Ports in quick turnaround time, thus eliminating the duplications and bureaucratic overlaps that previously rendered Nigerian exports uncompetitive in the international marketplace.
“To facilitate Port-Hinterland connectivity and create pathways for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to play in the export value chain, the EPTs are to be linked with Domestic Export Warehouses (DEWs) in synergy with the NEPC and relevant partners,” he stated.
He said further that the EPTs were established to align with the Federal Government’s ease-of-doing-business orientation and the theme of this year’s Kaduna Trade Fair, “Promoting Efficiency in Manufacturing, Agriculture and Trade through Digital Transformation.”
He stated that the NPA is aggressively pursuing the full automation of all its processes and procedures through the Ports Community System (PCS) which lays the groundwork for implementing the National Single Window (NSW).
Dantsoho told the stakeholders that the NSW is the global best practice for delivering the greatest value with the greatest ease by connecting all stakeholders in the trade value chain for seamless interaction at the push of a button, saying, “I have said all of these, to show that the Nigerian Ports Authority has put measures in place to link value creators in the remotest part of the hinterland with the farthest clusters of demand anywhere on the globe.”
He commended the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) for its resilience in sustaining the culture of hospitality and business friendliness that has continued to attract people from all over the globe to be a part of the International Kaduna Trade Fair for deepening economic prosperity.
He noted that the strategic positioning of Kaduna as a melting pot of population, trade, and a major transportation hub as the gateway to the northern hinterland and by extension Nigeria’s landlocked neighbouring countries presents huge opportunities waiting to be harnessed.
This, according to him, is coupled with its rich agro-allied potentials which are very important to actualising the Nigerian Ports Authority’s quest to connect local value producers in the non-oil value chain to identified international clusters of demand for their goods.
“As Nigeria’s foremost trade facilitation platform, the Nigerian Ports Authority is always proud to be associated with the noble cause that this fair represents, especially seeing that trade remains the most veritable tool for actualising most of our economic aspirations,” he said.
