The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), in collaboration with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has concluded a three-day stakeholder engagement aimed at streamlining port operations and reducing cargo dwell time.
The General Manager, Communication and Strategy Unit of the NPA, Mr Ikechukwu Onyemekara, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos.
The theme of the engagement is “Achieving a 7-Day Cargo Dwell Time”.
It brought together members of the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee (PCEC) under the Business Environment Enhancement Programme Accelerator (BEEPA) framework.
Onyemekara said the event, hosted by the NPA, was designed to enhance ease of doing business at Nigerian ports through practical reforms targeted at improving efficiency.
He explained that the programme, held at the Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Apapa, followed an extensive “shadowing” exercise in which officials observed real-time vessel berthing and cargo clearance operations at both the Tincan Island and Lagos Port complexes.
According to him, the exercise provided first-hand insights into operational gaps and bottlenecks affecting turnaround time at the ports.
Speaking at the engagement, the Director-General of PEBEC, Hajia Zahrah Mustapha, said the initiative was designed to move beyond problem identification to the implementation of long-overdue solutions.
“Nigeria loses significantly every day due to operational inefficiencies. 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 said.
She explained that the initiative deliberately integrates government regulators and private-sector stakeholders to promote transparency, accountability and shared ownership of reforms, with the ultimate objective of reducing cargo dwell time and improving vessel turnaround.
Earlier, the Managing Director of the NPA, Mr Abubakar Dantsoho, reaffirmed the authority’s commitment to supporting PEBEC’s reform agenda.
Dantsoho highlighted ongoing efforts by the NPA, including collaboration with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to deploy the Port Community System (PCS), which would serve as the digital backbone for the National Single Window.
According to him, the PCS is expected to eliminate manual bottlenecks, improve data sharing and synchronise port operations across agencies, thereby significantly enhancing efficiency.
He recalled that the NPA recorded a 100 per cent success rate in PEBEC reforms, ranking fifth among government agencies in 2025 with an 84.2 per cent compliance rating.
Dantsoho said the outcomes of the stakeholder engagement were expected to be implemented in the coming months.
He added that by addressing the operational gaps identified during the port inspections, PEBEC and the NPA aimed to create a more competitive and efficient maritime environment capable of attracting investment and facilitating seamless trade.
