The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Engr. Omar Suleiman has bemoaned the lack of optimum performance in the African maritime ndustry and promised that the authority will lead in providing a one stop shop for all shipping requirements in the region.
Speaking at the Pan African Shipping and Oil Roundtable, Accra, Ghana last week, Engr. Suleiman pledged that NPA will also ensure that Nigeria bridges the gap between the continent of Africa and the rest of the world.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Engr. Omar Suleiman has bemoaned the lack of optimum performance in the African maritime ndustry and promised that the authority will lead in providing a one stop shop for all shipping requirements in the region.
Speaking at the Pan African Shipping and Oil Roundtable, Accra, Ghana last week, Engr. Suleiman pledged that NPA will also ensure that Nigeria bridges the gap between the continent of Africa and the rest of the world.
In bridging the gap, the NPA boss suggested that Regional governments should create a one-stop-shop for inspections and verification of all business activities that are going on in the ports and that everything should be documented.
The Managing Director also decried the state of the African maritime industry which he said has not risen to the competitive level of advanced countries and called on public and private sectors to revive it for the benefits of the teaming people of Africa and the growth of its economy.
Speaking while delivering his paper on the Impact of Port Deregulation on the Supply Chain System-Nigeria’s Experience Engr. Suleiman said the occasion should serve as a pointer to the way forward considering the importance of the sector to the survival of the continent.
He said that it is high time for various governments in the region to join hands in formulating and implementing policies that would promote comprehensive modal integration and proffer permanent solution to the challenges facing the sector.
Nigeria, he said, has benefited tremendously after concessioning its ports and urged other countries in the continent to emulate Nigeria.
The NPA boss noted that shipping plays a vital role in world trade and saw it as the backbone of the world economy. Without ships and the transportation services the ships provide, he said, ‘’the world would not be as prosperous as it is today and many countries would not be able to participate in world trade.’’
Most of the data in all the ports, he said, needs to be sent to the relevant authority electronically, so that there will not be delay in cargo clearance at the port and same, he said, will promote security of the continent.
He said the situation at the nation’s seaports calls for a one-stop-shop that will accommodate all relevant agencies where importers and their clearing agents can go and clear their goods at the same time.
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