The National Single Window (NSW) Secretariat in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has deepened understanding and support for the ongoing implementation of the NSW project among stakeholders in the South East and South-South region.

The NSW project, according to the organisers, which is expected to be operational by first quarter of 2026 as directed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is aimed at achieving the $1 trillion economy by year 2030 in line with world economic growth projections for countries.

In his welcome address, the Director of the NSW Secretariat, Tola Fakolade, emphasised the government’s commitment to simplifying trade processes and improving transparency across Nigeria’s ports.

Fakolade applauded the efforts of the Nigeria customs service, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and others for their pioneering roles in digitisation of trade processes, while he also provided a project update, sharing key milestones and next steps in the NSW rollout.

Fakolade assured the stakeholders of the Federal Government’s full commitment towards deploying the NSW to enable the country to become a new business destination, while hoping that all bureaucratic bottlenecks hindering trade would be drastically reduced.

In his keynote address, the Registrar, Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Kingsley Igwe, highlighted the NSW’s benefits to traders, noting that importers and exporters stand to gain from reduced bottlenecks, faster clearance and improved competitiveness.

He urged stakeholders to take advantage of the system and leverage it in their businesses, describing it as a one -Stop Shop platform that houses all government related revenue collection agencies, importers and exporters as well as other regulatory agencies, granting them a single access for declarations.

In his opening remarks, the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, represented by the Zonal Coordinator, Customs Zone C, Headquarters Port Harcourt, Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Kamal Mohammed, welcomed the stakeholders, insisting that the event was a defining moment for trade facilitation

The Customs boss called for collaboration of all stakeholders to make the project work, emphasising that no single organisation can achieve meaningful success in isolation but through collaboration.