Tinubu tasks African leaders on seamless cargo evacuation, ports operation

President Bola Tinubu has called on African leaders to collectively seek sustainable solutions for adequate security, transparency, seamlessness and efficient cargo evacuation to and from the ports as well as other challenges that port operations face on the continent.

He said addressing these challenges is an area in which ports operation in Africa needed a lot of intervention and also an important factor deciding the competitiveness of ports in the continent.

Tinubu gave the charge yesterday at the ongoing 43rd yearly Council of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) hosted by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos, with the theme: “The Role of Ports in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”

He said countries in the West and Central African region have a shared destiny and are largely connected by the same developmental challenges as well as a robust human capital base and natural resource endowments.

The President posited that countries in the region are thus duty-bound by posterity to unite and deploy their resources towards solving those issues that militate against their socio-economic progress.

“One of the resources that we can proudly speak about as a bloc is our maritime endowment. The reality that most of us are either littoral or island states makes the formulation of policies for the optimum utilisation of our waters for the growth of our economies expedient.

“Even though we have physical national boundaries that separate us, the waters are a natural source of connectivity and they seem like a subtle providential message that we must work together for the good of all our countries,” he said.

Tinubu disclosed that there are on-going discussions in Nigeria and other African countries on the expediency of urgently investing in infrastructure and equipment to support trade facilitation to enhance revenue and development of the continent.

He also stated that Nigeria believed in the necessity of infusing information technology into public management to aid transparency and ease business processes, which is why the Federal Government is giving the NPA all the backing necessary to fast track the operationalisation of the Port Community System.

He said the port community system is a precursor to the implementation of the National Single Window, as Nigeria is persuaded that full automation is the only way to remain competitive in the global maritime industry.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, said the continent is eager and determined to reposition the ports for competitiveness in deepening its readiness for the exigent demands and ever widening opportunities inherent in AfCFTA.

He said Nigeria is implementing a policy of full automation of its existing ports as well as pursuing a thoroughgoing port modernisation programme that involves comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction where necessary.

Oyetola said tied to this, is Nigeria’s implementation of a policy of new ports development as demonstrated by the Lekki Deep Seaport, which success will govern the operationalisation of the already approved Badagry and Ondo Deep Seaports as well as the upcoming Snake Island and Burutu Ports.

He urged the African leaders to deliberate and proffer solutions on the strategies for unleashing the sub-regional comparative advantages, as well as unravel issues that hitherto limit the continent from repositioning its ports for competitiveness.

Earlier, the Managing Director, NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko Koko, said the global leadership of ports in the contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), shows that the sustainability of the world, especially Africa, rests heavily on the sustainability of its ports.

He urged African leaders to work together to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers as well as liberalisation of trade in goods and services to harness opportunities for the collective prosperity of respective national economies.

Bello-Koko said apart from being linked by water, countries in West and Central Africa are linked by challenges and opportunities, which if they fail to maximize this unity through the cooperation of the ports could be a great disservice to the continent.

The NPA boss urged delegates from West and Central African countries, alongside international observers, to exchange ideas and insights, with the shared goal of enhancing trade facilitation and spurring economic growth in the region.

Also speaking earlier, the President of the PWAWCA, Goodwill Alini Yandjangoye, said countries in West and Central Africa must work together to ensure ports in the continent work effectively to enhance their economies.

He said countries must improve their strategies in developing their ports operations in 2024 to ensure Africa competes with other continents in trade facilitation.