The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council PEBEC says it has intensified efforts to reduce the average cargo dwell time at Nigerian ports from 21 days to seven days as part of measures to 8 trade efficiency, lower logistics costs and strengthen the country’s competitiveness.
The Director-General of PEBEC, Princess Zahra Audu, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists at the State House, Abuja, during the Meet the Press, a weekly media engagement programme of the Presidential Media Team.
Audu said the council had identified the prolonged clearance of cargo as a major constraint to imports and exports, particularly when compared with neighbouring countries such as Ghana and the Benin Republic.
“As a resolution from the committee that was set up, we were tasked to try and bring down our cargo dwell time from 21 days to seven days. We worked assiduously with initiatives such as our joint inspection, which was designed to ensure that when cargos are berth, all agencies coordinates the effort to clearing the the the ship on time, so that the the the turnaround time is quicker.
For starters, we also have coordinated effort for inspection of cargos. We’ve also moved away from physical inspection of cargos to scanners, which also has optimized the service. The whole idea is to ensure that containers that arrive in Nigeria are cleared out within seven days. It’s a work in progress.”
She further revealed that PEBEC would equip truckers with body cameras as part of efforts to strengthen accountability and obtain credible evidence against extortion and other operational abuses along the ports corridor. She explained that the initiative would complement a broader stakeholder engagement with truckers and freight forwarders, who are among those most affected by customs-related bottlenecks, with a more comprehensive sensitisation programme scheduled for September or October.
She explained that PEBEC established a committee in the Office of the Vice President in April presently coordinating Ministries, Departments and Agencies operating within the ports corridor to streamline the movement of imports and exports.
According to her, the government has introduced joint cargo inspections and is replacing physical examinations with scanner-based inspections to improve efficiency and shorten vessel and container turnaround time.
Audu also identified the National Single Window as a major component of the reform, saying it has brought relevant agencies onto a unified digital platform and simplify the documentation required for importing and exporting goods.
“The National Single Window is streamlining all the agencies and placing them on one mainstream software infrastructure that will enable them to coordinate seamlessly in terms of the documentation needed for the import and export of goods,” she stated.
She added that PEBEC had conducted visits to the ports in January, March and July to ensure that illegal checkpoints removed along the Apapa and Tin Can Island corridors did not return.
The Director-General said PEBEC had also strengthened interaction between businesses and government through the ReportGov platform, which connects businesses directly with 69 business-facing ministries, departments and agencies.
She highlighted that the platform, relaunched in June 2025, had evolved from a complaint channel into a government-wide grievance resolution and accountability mechanism, allowing businesses to escalate challenges and receive responses within 72 hours.
She noted that physical ReportGov kiosks had also been deployed at major airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, as well as at the Apapa and Tin Can seaports, to bring government services closer to businesses.
Audu said the 69 business-facing MDAs had been organised into clusters to reduce duplication, improve coordination and provide faster responses to businesses.
She cited the memorandum of understanding between the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control as one of the outcomes of the initiative, explaining that it would reduce repeated certification processes and the burden placed on industries.
At the subnational level, the PEBEC Director-General said ease-of-doing-business councils had been activated to strengthen coordination between federal and state governments, advance the digitalisation of public services and support the establishment of one-stop business centres.
“We continue to work with the World Bank on our State Action Business Environment Reform Programme, SABA, whereby we there is a 750 million dollar fund for the states. We are actually in the final year of this program, and we are still working with the states to be able to access this fund directly from the World Bank.
“Its a loan, and as such, we need to prepare the states in such a way that this loan is being implemented for the right purpose, so that they are able to repay. Of course, we know it’s not free money, so as such, we need to prepare them.” She added.
Audu added that PEBEC was working with the World Bank through the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms Programme to assist states in accessing funding and implementing reforms in digital connectivity, land administration and the harmonisation of taxes and levies.
She further disclosed that small claims courts had been established in all states to provide affordable dispute-resolution mechanisms for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Every state in Nigeria now has a small claims court. This is important for MSMEs because they can pursue eligible claims without necessarily engaging a lawyer,” she said.
The PEBEC DG added that the council was promoting alternative dispute resolution and specialised commercial courts to ensure that business-related disputes were resolved within shorter periods.
