By: Felix Ikpotor.
The Federal Government has intensified its campaign for a centralised digitally-based documentation system to ease import and export and also block revenue leakeages.
This followed the launch of the phase two National Single Window Programme Export Sensitization Joint Stakeholders Forum in Port Harcourt.
According to Tola Fakolade, Project Director of NSW, the scheme is a federal government initiative implemented alongside the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies, is aimed at implementing a centralised electronic trade platform.
This platform he said, is designed to streamline trade processes for importers and exporters by integrating and harmonising data from multiple government agencies and stakeholders, thereby enhancing economic efficiency.
He said with a Single Window platform, many countries have begun transforming their paper-based trade processes into paperless ones, adding that electronic systems for filing, transferring, processing, and exchanging regulatory and trade information for export and import have become important tools for managing cross-border trade.
Fakolade noted that cross-border trade is crucial to national economic growth; nothing that governments around the world are implementing strategies to make it easy, safe and more competitive.
“In Nigeria today, the import and export process is cumber-some, marked by a lengthy clearance procedure, outdated technology, and a lack of transparency which has led to government revenue losses, thus the need for a centralised platform – The Single Window System, ” Fakolade said.
In addressing these challenges, the Project Director said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inaugurated the National Single Window project on 16th of April 2024 to improve trade facilitation, enhance federal government revenue and improve national security at Nigeria’s borders.
He said the NSW will be leveraged to overcome existing challenges while unlocking opportunities for enhanced trade efficiency in the Nigeria trade system.
Highlighting some challenges associated with Nigeria’s import and export system, Fakolade said thr country loses significant trade revenue at the ports due to practices such as under-declaration, undervaluation, and misclassification of goods-both in terms of quantity and tariff codes-which bypass accurate duty and tax assessment.
He listed others as duplicate dcumentations, slow process turnaround, interoperability barriers and fragmented risks manage system.
The Project Director said the aim of the scheme is that the NSW Platform will serve as the single-entry point for traders, clearing agents and other ports operators, single entry for all documentations and data processing, and ensure proper controls in the system and processes to reduce the risk of poten-tial data manipulation and ensure proper segre-gation of duties.
He also said the project aims to provide real-time visibility and tracking of the activities and centralised risk sharing.
Fakolade emphasised that the implementation of the NSW platform in Nigeria is expected to meet several nation-building objectives that range from simplifying trade processes to boosting economic growth through simplifying trade processes, increase transparency, block revenue leakages, attract investments, and boost government revenue and economic growth.
He however, noted that the successful implementation of the NSW was contingent upon active stakeholders participation to provide feedbacks, validate proceses and ensure alignment with practical trade operations.
In her keynote address, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), noted that Nigeria’s non-oil export sector recorded an encouraging performance in 2025, generating US$6.1 billion in export earnings, representing an 11.5 per cent increase over the US$5.46 billion recorded in 2024.
Represented by Mr Ndubueze Okeke, Director, Trade Information, NEPC, Ayeni said export volumes also increased by 10 per cent to 8.02 million metric tonnes, with 281 non-oil products exported to 120 countries, adding that the achievements demonstrate Nigeria’s growing export potential, while also reinforcing the need to strengthen the systems that support international trade.
The NEPC CEO said the National Single Window is particularly important because it is designed to streamline international trade processes through a unified digital platform for the submission and processing of trade-related documentation, permits and approvals.
” It seeks to improve inter-agency coordination, eliminate duplication, enhance transparency and reduce the administrative burden on businesses, ” she noted.
Ayeni further appreciated the NSW Project Secretariat for the collaboration and all stakeholders for their commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s trade facilitation ecosystem.
For his part, Mr Aondona Christopher Fanyam, Controller in-charge of Modernization, Nigerian Customs Service, said the sensitization was necessary to train the stakeholders on the workability of the system and how to apply it to enhance their trade.
“The MDAs are ready, but the stakeholders need to be aware of what is going on. That is why we are here to sensitize them and give them avenues for training, ” he stated.
