NSW hits N17b milestone, moves to phase 2 of export drive by December

The National Single Window (NSW) Secretariat has revealed that over 4,414 trade manifests and N17 billion have been received in eight months for the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), and other agencies on the NSW platform.

Director of the NSW Secretariat, Tola Fakolade, disclosed this yesterday in Lagos during the stakeholders’ engagement held ahead of the launch of the second phase of the platform for export operations scheduled for December 14.

He said the second phase covering export-related processes would be implemented progressively from the fourth quarter of 2026 to the first quarter of 2027, with additional government agencies and private-sector stakeholders integrated into the platform.

Fakolade said the expansion is expected to streamline export documentation, simplify regulatory procedures, reduce delays and improve the efficiency of Nigeria’s international trade.

Under the second phase, the platform will accommodate export licences, certificates and permits, Forms Nigeria Export Proceeds (NXP) and Non-Commercial Export (NCX), export manifests transmitted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Import Duty Exemption Certificates (IDEC), import and export permits for Free Trade Zones, as well as payments for export-related licences, permits, certificates and other regulatory documents (LPCO).

Fakolade explained that the new phase would enable exporters to initiate applications for relevant registrations, licences, permits and certificates through a single digital platform, with submissions routed to the appropriate Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for review, inspections where necessary, approval and issuance.

According to him, applicable payments for export licences, permits and certificates would also be processed through the NSW platform as part of the Phase 2 export LPCO process.

The rollout will involve several government agencies and private-sector stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), through its Federal Produce Inspection Service (FPIS) and Regulatory Export Services (REX); SON; National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA); Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC); Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS); CBN and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Others are the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development (FMLD), Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy (FMMBE), Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and Federal Ministry of Finance (FMOF).

He said, also expected to be on board by the end of November 2026, are the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

On trade classification, he said work was progressing on the rationalisation and harmonisation of Harmonised System (HS) codes across regulatory agencies and Customs to promote greater consistency in the classification of traded goods.

According to him, the project team discovered during the initial implementation that some products were being regulated by as many as three or four agencies, creating unnecessary duplication and additional compliance requirements for traders.

The Deputy Director and Regional Coordinator, Southwest, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Benedict Itegbe, said the initiative will address documentation bottlenecks, improving logistics and strengthening the country’s non-oil export sector.

Itegbe, however, identified documentation requirements and procedural bottlenecks as persistent challenges facing exporters, stressing that the NSW infrastructure would eliminate multiple submissions and fragmented regulatory processes, making it easier for exporters to complete transactions.

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Dr Bashir Adeniyi, who was represented by the Nigeria Customs Service Zonal Coordinator of Zone A, Frank Onyeka, described the platform’s adoption rate of over 95 per cent and other achievement of the first phase as evidence that Nigeria had the capacity to embrace digital trade and successfully deploy technology to improve its trading environment.