NPA unveils faster, digital-first export pathways at Kano trade fair
Maureen Aguta
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Abubakar Dantsoho, has restated the agency’s commitment to revitalising Nigeria’s non-oil export sector through streamlined port operations and stronger connections between the ports and the hinterland.
Speaking during the NPA Special Day at the ongoing Kano International Trade Fair, Dantsoho commended the Kano Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KACCIMA) for sustaining the fair’s status as a global business platform.
He noted that Kano’s strategic role as a commercial gateway to Nigeria’s northern hinterland and landlocked neighbouring countries offers vast economic potential, especially for export-driven industries.
Dantsoho said Kano’s extensive agro-allied capacity aligns with the NPA’s reform agenda to connect local producers—particularly within the non-oil value chain—to international markets.
He outlined key initiatives introduced by the Authority to boost export competitiveness, most notably the establishment of Export Processing Terminals (EPTs). The terminals, he explained, operate as one-stop centres providing consolidation, documentation, packaging, certification and movement of goods to the ports. Developed in partnership with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and other agencies, the EPTs are designed to eliminate the bureaucratic hurdles and duplication that previously slowed down Nigerian exports.
The NPA chief further disclosed that the Authority is intensifying its push to eliminate human interface by fully automating port processes through the Ports Community System (PCS), which will eventually feed into the National Single Window (NSW). The NSW, he said, is recognised globally as the benchmark for integrating all actors in the trade ecosystem on a single digital platform.
According to Dantsoho, these reforms underline the Authority’s determination to connect value creators from even the remotest parts of the country to global markets with minimal friction.
He encouraged traders and investors at the fair to visit the NPA pavilion, engage with its business development team and explore the opportunities now available through the Authority’s expanding suite of real-time digital platforms.
“To empower Small and Medium Enterprises in line with the theme of this year’s fair, we are aggressively simplifying export procedures to ensure made-in-Nigeria goods move through our ports as smoothly as possible. Our doors are always open for partnerships beyond this fair,” he said.