The Federal Government has said the issuance of export and import trade licences and permits has increased by between 20 and 30 per cent, following efforts to boost trade in the country.
The Project Coordinator and Director of the National Single Window, NSW, in Nigeria, Tola Fakolade, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja.
Fakolade said the first phase of the implementation of the National Single Window had successfully removed trade bottlenecks through the harmonisation of processes among multiple government agencies.
He noted that the government, through the NSW, had so far blocked some loopholes and improved compliance in the issuance of licences and permits.
“The number of licences and permits that have been issued, compared to the same period last year, has gone up by between 20 and 30 per cent.
“So, for us, that gives us the assurance that the Single Window is delivering, blocking some of the loopholes that existed before and really driving compliance in the issuance of licences and permits,” he said.
He added that the NSW had eliminated overlaps among government agencies as part of efforts to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
According to him, the Federal Government is close to bringing the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, onto the NSW platform to further strengthen trade facilitation.
Fakolade also highlighted the rationalisation of Harmonised System, HS, codes, saying the government was working to identify and address overlaps among agencies.
“And I also mentioned the HS code rationalisation, where we are identifying overlaps and working with the agencies to ensure that we identify those overlaps, and then we try to reduce or eliminate them as much as possible,” he said.
Export, import trade licences, permits issuance rises by 20 to 30% under Single Window – FG