The Nigeria Customs Service is seeking cooperation with the maritime industry to maximise the potentials of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).
The Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, stated this while speaking at the 43rd Annual Council Meeting and 18th Roundtable of Managing Directors/Exhibition of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) in Lagos on Monday.
Adeniyi stated that the objectives of AfCFTA presents a beacon of hope for Africa’s economic transformation, ranging from promoting intra-African trade to sustainable economic growth.
“These goals resonate profoundly with the eight-point agenda championed by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which include ensuring food security, end poverty, foster economic growth, create jobs, provide access to capital, ensure security, improve the ease of doing business, uphold the rule of law, and combat corruption,” he said.
Adeniyi disclosed that Customs has taken proactive steps to align its activities with the aspirations related to trade facilitation and ports. The steps, according to him, include transforming Nigeria into Africa’s most efficient trading nation, addressing the long-standing issue of port congestion, and enforcing the Presidential Directive for the 48-hour clearance of goods at seaports in accordance with Executive Order 001.
He said the Nigeria Customs Service is redefining performance measures for key government agencies to emphasise trade facilitation, implement the National Single Window trading platform, and launch a comprehensive transformational program to support export development.
