Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Nigeria’s push to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030 is gaining renewed momentum, as the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, outlined fresh measures to tackle trade bottlenecks, lower business costs and make Nigerian ports globally competitive.
Speaking at the NIIA Trade and Investment Forum in Lagos, the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Babatunde Olomu, who represented the Comptroller-General of Customs, said the Service is aggressively driving reforms to cut delays, improve predictability for traders and deepen Nigeria’s participation in international markets.
Olomu said Customs has prioritised digitalisation as a core driver of economic competitiveness, stressing that new automation tools deployed over the past year are already reducing clearance times and eliminating loopholes.
“Among these are the Advanced Ruling System, which enables traders to obtain pre-arrival decisions on classification and valuation of goods, thereby cutting costs, reducing delays, and preventing unnecessary demurrage,” he said.
He added that the formal recognition of the Authorised Economic Operator, AEO, Scheme in the Nigeria Customs Service Act provides a structured framework for accrediting compliant traders and offering them fast-track services.
“These two initiatives, Advanced Ruling and the AEO programme, are practical tools through which the Customs Service is promoting efficiency and facilitating trade,” Olomu noted, describing them as central to resolving long-standing bottlenecks at Nigerian ports.
The trade forum, themed “Reforms to Results: Building a Trade-Ready Nigeria in the Emerging Global Order”, held at the Bashir Adeniyi Centre for International Trade and Investment, brought together policymakers, trade experts and business leaders seeking ways to reposition Nigeria for global competitiveness.
Director-General of the NIIA, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, said Nigeria must urgently accelerate reforms if it intends to hit the $1 trillion GDP ambition within five years.
“We want to be a $1 trillion economy by 2030, so we must accelerate economic development. While foreign investment is important, we must also build our domestic productive base using our comparative advantages,” he stated.
Osaghae stressed deeper institutional collaboration as essential for shaping Nigeria’s trade future, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, which he described as a “historic opportunity” for scale and integration.
Responding to security-related concerns from participants, he acknowledged the impact of insecurity on logistics costs, especially the high insurance premiums imposed on businesses operating in high-risk environments.
He said resolving these challenges will require “comprehensive, multi-stakeholder solutions” that align security reforms with trade and investment priorities.
Both institutions reiterated their commitment to ensuring that ongoing reforms translate into measurable improvements in port efficiency, investor confidence and Nigeria’s overall trade readiness.
