By Anthony Nwachukwu
The Trade Modernisation Project (TMP) will stimulate quicker cargo clearance at the Nigerian ports, boost Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and enhance the country’s global visibility, President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, Capt. Tajudeen Alao, has said.
Speaking in Lagos, Alao noted that with the advancement of technology, the world has moved beyond conventional methods of doing business, adding that the former President of Singapore, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, led his country’s drive for technology awareness over 30 years ago, which took it from a third-world to a first-world country.
“So, Nigeria must make more efforts to keep abreast with technological advancements worldwide,” he stated. “The establishment of the Trade Modernisation Project would add value in terms of Internally Generated Revenue through improved customs clearance procedures.
“Consider when we had to carry files around; now everything is done through ICT. Nigeria must modernise, and I am glad this initiative is underway.”
Insisting that growth is impossible without trade, just as creating conducive atmosphere for trade is essential to reap its benefits, Alao assured Nigerians of tremendous benefits with the TMP establishment, adding that master mariners equally were updating themselves globally to remain relevant in the maritime industry.
Commending the terminal operators for improving the access to the port, he urged them to equally upgrade other facilities in order to reduce business processing time, stating that TMP would enable Nigeria become a shipping hub for West and Central Africa.
The Federal Government and TMP Ltd signed a 20-year concession agreement on May 30, 2022, to provide best-in-class technology for the implementation of paperless operations at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
For the General Manager of the Trade Facilitation Project, Mr. Ahmed Ogunshola, numerous benefits would accrue to Nigeria when the Customs Modernisation Project (CMP) is fully automated.
According to him, the project will 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 fast release of goods, with the expected significant growth in Federal Government’s revenue profile the major advantage of the project.
“The project will generate more than $250 billion for the Federal Government over the life of the concession,” he said. “The project will bring Nigeria to par with the rest of the world in terms of deploying technology to facilitate international trade.
“The TMP project will give the economic diversification agenda of the Federal Government a huge boost by providing further ease of cross-border trading.
“By the time the project is fully implemented, it will cover all areas of customs activities, including duties collection, clearance operations and suppression of smuggling.”
