Customs modernisation to speed up cargo clearance – Master mariners

The Nigerian Association of Master Mariners has said that the Federal Government’s Trade Modernisation Project will stimulate quicker cargo clearance at the country’s ports.

In a statement on Friday, the President of NAMM, Captain Tajudeen Alao stated this while chatting with journalists in Lagos on Thursday.

Alao noted that the project would also boost internally generated revenue and enhance the country’s global visibility.

The PUNCH reported that on May 30, 2022, the Federal Government and Trade Modernisation Project Ltd, signed a 20-year concession agreement to provide best-in-class technology for the implementation of paperless customs in the Nigeria Customs Service operations.

Alao noted that the world had moved beyond conventional methods of doing business with the advancement of technology.

“More than 30 years ago, when Singapore grew from a third-world country to a first-world country, the President, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, led the drive for technology awareness, and now look at where Singapore is today in terms of technology

“So, Nigeria must make more efforts to keep abreast with technological advancements worldwide,” he stated.

According to Alao, the establishment of the Trade Modernisation project will add value in terms of IGR through improved customs clearance procedures.

“Consider the time when we had to carry files around; now everything is done through ICT. Nigeria must modernize, and I am glad this initiative is underway,” he said.

The General Manager of the Trade Facilitation Project, Mr Ahmed Ogunshola, explained the numerous benefits accrued to a nation when the Customs Modernisation Project is fully automated.

He explained that TMP was the automation of the business processes of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Ogunshola said that the project would simplify and enhance the experience of stakeholders in the trade value chain, making it easy to obtain import and export clearances, pay duties, and obtain the release of goods.

The TMP GM added that the major advantage of the project was the significant growth in the revenue profile of the federal government.

“The project would generate more than $250bn for the Federal Government over the life of the concession

“The project will bring Nigeria to par with the rest of the world, in terms of deploying technology to facilitate international trade,” Ogunshola explained.