In a bid to encourage and facilitate cross border trade, the Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council (NSC) is intensifying efforts to ameliorate the challenges faced by cross border traders at land border posts by the establishment of Border Information Centres (BICs).
\nThis is being done in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Borderless Alliance (BA).
\nThe Executive Secretary\/CEO, Nigerian Shipers’ Council, Barr. Pius Ukeyima Akutah, made this disclosure on Wednesday at a breakfast meeting organized by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) on the theme “Trade Facilitation and President Tinubu’s Economic Agenda: Matters Arising”. <\/p>\n
The Executive Secretary who was represented by the Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs Department, Ogbonnaya Austina, informed that four BICs have been established at:
\n* Seme-Krake border between Nigeria and Benin Republic
\n* Jibia \u2014 Marradi border between Nigeria and Niger <\/p>\n
* Mfum-Ekot border between Nigeria and Cameroon
\n* Illela-Bimin Koni border between Nigeria and Niger <\/p>\n
Akutah further said that two more BICs shall be established under the Council’s current strategic plan, adding that plans have reached advanced stages with regard to the establishment of a BIC at the Idiroko Border Post. <\/p>\n
“BICs are veritable facilities for gathering data on cross border trade for policy making as well as providing Traders facilitating information to cross border stakeholders,” he stated.
\nHe also hinted that efforts are being geared to the development of Vehicle Transit Areas (VTAs) across the country to facilitate the safety and security of cargo in transit. <\/p>\n
The NSC boss stressed that in consonance wth government aspirations, the Council continues to promote and advocate the digitalization of Nigerian port process and operations.
\nHe announced that over ninety (90%) of port processes and operations are now automated reducing considerably human interactions and all its negative attributes. <\/p>\n
According to him, it is not longer news that the Dala, Funtua and Kaduna Inland Dry Ports in Kano, Katsina and Kaduna states respectively are Operational, having been commissioned and designated as port of origin and final destination for inward and outward cargo respectively.
\nHe pointed out that the shipping community in these inland locations are already taking the benefits of these facilities in the conduct of their businesses. <\/p>\n
Furthermore, Akutah said that President\u2019s directives that immediate steps be taken to complete and commission the remaining legacy IDP projects are being pursuit with vigor.<\/p>\n
He promised that the Council will continue to promote and support establishment of port and transport infrastructure in order to facilitate both domestic and international trade. While appreciating MARAN for the opportunity to speak at the breakfast meeting, he assured that the Council will continue to partner the association on facilitate trade and other related activities. <\/p>\n
He noted that the topic was carefully chosen to align with the Federal Government Renewed Hope Agenda to
\nfacilitate trade and bring prosperity to Nigerians. <\/p>\n
The NSC boss highlighted the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR laid down 8-Point Agenda to revamp Nigeria economy which is tagged \u201cRenewed Hope\u201d. <\/p>\n
He stated that there is no doubt from the inception of the administration that the President meant business in the various sectors of the
\neconomy.
\n“Looking at the Maritime and Transport sectors, the President
\nunbundled the Federal Ministry of Transportation into two ministries namely (1) The Ministry of Transportation and (2)
\nThe Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. This is for effective service delivery and expansion of the revenue base of the economy,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a bid to encourage and facilitate cross border trade, the Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council (NSC) is intensifying efforts to ameliorate the challenges faced by cross border traders at land border posts by the establishment of Border Information Centres (BICs). This is being done in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Borderless […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritime-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5837,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835\/revisions\/5837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}