THE Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), in collaboration with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has a three-day high-level stakeholder engagement in Lagos themed: “Achieving a Seven-Day Cargo Dwell Time”.

The session which brought together the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee (PCEC), under the Business Environment Enhancement Programme Accelerator (BEEPA) framework, was geared towards streamlining port processes to bolster the ease of doing business.

Recall that the NPA had since achieved a 100 per cent success rate in PEBEC reforms, ranking fifth among agencies in 2025 with an 84.2 per cent compliance rating.

The engagement, held at the Lagos Ports Complex LPC, in Apapa, followed an extensive “shadowing” exercise, where officials observed real-time vessel berthing and cargo clearance operations at both the Tin Can Island and Lagos Ports complexes both in Apapa.

Speaking at the event, PEBEC Director General, Zahrah Mustapha, emphasised that the session was designed to move beyond identifying hurdles toward implementing long-overdue practical solutions.

“Nigeria loses significantly every day due to operational inefficiencies,” Mustapha stated. “These are not just numbers; they represent missed opportunities, jobs not created, and delayed economic growth. This reform is about resilience and unlocking the nation’s economic potential.”

Mustapha noted that the initiative integrates both government regulators and private sector stakeholders to ensure transparency and accountability, with the ultimate goal of reducing cargo dwell time and improving vessel turnaround time.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the NPA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, reiterated the Authority’s commitment to supporting PEBEC’s mandates.

He highlighted the NPA’s progress in collaborating with the International Maritime Organisation IMO to deploy the Port Community System PCS, which will serve as the digital backbone for the National Single Window, a move expected to eliminate manual bottlenecks and synchronise port operations. (Nigerian Tribune)

Update news