The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), on Monday, said the clearance of the Tin-Can Island port access road has led to the increase in the numbers of cargoes exported out of the country.
Speaking when the President of the Association of Nigerian Licenced Customs Agents (ANLCA), Emenike Nwokeji, Board of Trustee (BoT) chairman, Taiwo Mustapha and other members of the association paid a working visit in the authority, the managing director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, said clearing the port access road was part of the commitment to enhancing ease of doing business and deepen Nigeria’s balance of trade through promotion of exports.
The executive of the association had visited the NPA headquarters to commend the authority helmsman for the initiatives to clear the decade-long traffic gridlock that had menaced the Apapa/Tincan Ports access roads and undermined ease of doing business in Nigeria.
According to Bello-Koko, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its foreign trade report for the first quarter of 2024 highlighted that Nigeria recorded a N6.5 trillion trade surplus between January and March of 2024.
“Breaking the jinx of the agelong traffic gridlock that was causing huge revenue losses and reputational damage to our dear country Nigeria was a product of our relentless commitment to doing what is right by entering into open-minded collaborations with the Lagos State Government and relevant stakeholders ”
“We are committed to fulfilling the priorities as enunciated in the Presidential/ Ministerial Performance Bond which we signed and to sustain the sanity on the Port access which has resulted in the unprecedented increase in export numbers, we have developed a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for cargo evacuation which we would be implementing with renewed vigour going forward to sustain the growth in exports necessary to achieve the national trade surplus required to grow the domestic economy.”
“The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its foreign trade report for the first quarter of 2024 released on Sunday highlighted that Nigeria recorded a N6.5 trillion trade surplus between January and March of 2024. The NBS detailed that Nigeria’s exports totalled N19.1 trillion and total imports stood at N12.6 trillion — indicating a trade surplus of N6.5 trillion,” Bello-Koko stated.
A trade surplus is an economic indicator of a positive trade balance in which the exports of a nation outweigh the country’s imports.