Webb Fontaine has stressed the need for greater integration between government and private sector players within Nigeria’s port ecosystem to enhance the efficiency of the Port Community System (PCS) and achieve sustainable 24-hour port operations.
The Operations Director of Webb Fontaine Nigeria Limited, Vlad Ionescu, speaking at the fifth edition of the JournalNG Port Industry Town Hall Meeting held in Lagos, highlighted the critical importance of collaboration between public and private stakeholders to drive improvements in the system.
Ionescu explained that the PCS is a digital platform that brings together all actors operating within the ports, providing a single point of entry for all required documents, which are then dispatched to the relevant agencies.
He outlined Webb Fontaine’s contributions in leveraging technology to challenge traditional practices and deliver innovative solutions for trade facilitation across various countries.
According to Ionescu, the company is building unique expertise in trade and customs to help governments, businesses, and economic communities globally rethink and transform the way they conduct trade.
Also speaking at the event, the Manager in charge of installation at Webb Fontaine Nigeria Limited, Lanre Balogun, stated that the PCS has enabled seamless interaction among systems used by the port authority, customs and terminal operators, covering processes from data exchange and logistics to billing and payment.
Balogun listed the benefits of the PCS for stakeholders, including a completely paperless process, optimisation of cargo transit time and the logistics chain, tracking of operations within the system, promotion of transparency and accountability, reduction in physical contact and lower costs of doing business.
Providing an illustrative explanation of the PCS, Balogun noted that under the Webb Ports regime, port processes now enjoy faster processing, from the electronic manifest declaration and payment of duties and fees to space booking for delivery and loading, electronic cargo release authorisation, and comprehensive cargo movement management and tracking.
Meanwhile, at the recently inaugurated Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, revealed that the agency is working closely with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to deploy the PCS, which he described as the backbone for the National Single Window.
Dantsoho emphasised that the PCS will eliminate paperwork, reduce human interface, thereby improving transparency, lowering costs, boosting efficiency and increasing revenue generation.
