The Federal Government has intensified efforts to actualise the implementation of the National Single Window at the nation’s ports by 2026.

The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, said the policy aimed at creating a single platform to harmonise documentation, minimise human contact, and bring full transparency to the cargo clearance process would be a game changer at the ports Shettima, who stated this yesterday during the second meeting of the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee at the Presidential Villa, noted that the target was to reduce average cargo clearance time from 21 days to less than seven days by the end of 2026, and to position Nigerian ports among the top three most potent trade corridors in Africa.

He said: “By the end of 2026, we aim to reduce average cargo clearance time in Nigeria to under seven days and to position our ports among the top three most efficient trade gateways on the continent.

“The forthcoming implementation of the National Single Window in the first quarter of next year will be a game changer, a single platform that harmonises documentation, minimises human contact, and brings full transparency to the cargo clearance process.”

Shettima also directed the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and other relevant agencies to come up with a roadmap on how to make Nigeria’s weights and measures framework effective.

The weights and measures framework conducts regular surveillance and inspections across Nigeria to ensure that weighing and measuring equipment used in trade is accurate and that consumers receive the correct value for their money in line with standard global practice. The main objective is to ensure consumer protection, which is achieved by preventing fraud and misrepresentation in commercial transactions involving weights and measures.