The Federal Government has called for interventions in the aspect of cargo evacuation in African Ports.
The President, Bola Tinubu, said this on Monday, in Lagos, during the 43rd annual council meeting of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa.
Speaking at the meeting themed, ‘The role of ports in the African Continental Free Trade Area’, the president said that seamless cargo evacuation is another major challenge ports in the continent are facing.
Tinubu who was represented at the event by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, added that the theme of the meeting is a testament to the determination of the organisers to collectively seek sustainable solutions to the challenges that port operations face on the continent.
“After the issues of adequate security and transparency, one other important factor deciding the competitiveness of ports is the seamlessness and efficiency with which cargoes are evacuated to and from the ports. This, without doubt, is an area in which port operations in Africa need a lot of intervention,” he stated.
The president disclosed that there is an ongoing discussion between Nigeria and other African countries on the need to invest in port infrastructure to support trade facilitation.
“Of course, there are ongoing discussions in Nigeria and other African countries on the need to urgently invest in infrastructure and equipment to support trade facilitation.
Meetings like this put the issues in proper perspectives and serve as avenues for the generation of ideas that would aid our national governments to formulate effective policies,” he stated.
Tinubu said that full automation is the only way to go.
“As a government that believes in the necessity of infusing information technology into public management to aid transparency and ease business processes, we are giving the Nigerian Ports Authority all the backing necessary to fast track the operationalisation of the port community system which is a precursor to the implementation of the National Single Window. Because we are persuaded that full automation is the only way to go if we plan to remain competitive in the global maritime industry.”
