Nigeria says that majority of  its ports have been digitalised a move that is aimed at enhancing efficiecy while reducing corruption cases. Hassan Bello,  Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) says that ports in Nigeria are now 70 per cent digitalised.
However,  Mr Bello regretted that they did not reach the intended target of 90 per cent.
“We have been working with shipping companies and terminal operators to ensure we make the deadline we set for the first quarter but we saw it was not feasible to attain 90 per cent digitalisation. “What we were able to do on the average was 70 per cent, but digitisation of the ports is a process in the making. We want this to happen as quickly as possible,” he said.
He said that digitisation would make our ports more competitive, noting that the country had competitors in West and Central Africa sub-regions. Bello said that it was not easy to get to the 70 per cent port digitalisation, adding that they had the scorecards of every terminal and shipping companies that led to the tremendous improvement. Speaking on the level of digitalisation of shipping companies, he said that Grimaldi had 88 per cent, Ocean Network Express 76 per cent, and CMA CGM 63 per cent, among others.
He added that some of those that scored 70 per cent had 20 per cent initially, but improved with the guidance of the council.
For seaport terminals, Bello said PTML had 92 per cent, and in Port Harcourt, Intels, BUA and Wact had 70 per cent digitalisation each. “Where we are having problems is on reforms and claims processes which is mostly manual but we have some that scored 50 per cent. “Also, the second phase is the integration of systems because anybody can have online but there is a need to integrate with the banks for example and even the Nigeria Customs Serivces, ” he said. He said that digitalisation would promote cleanliness in the port environment and as well tackle illegal trading activities that degrade the environment.
“We are going to clear the whole port environment, we are going to work with the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Ports and Offences Act will be cited to clear the place. “You cannot go and be selling food or diesel at the corridors of the port because some of these trucks stop requesting for them and a five minute stop will cause a lot of problem so we cannot afford to have such. “The port is a special place that requires speedy execution of transactions, we cannot have people selling engine oil,” he said. He said that for Nigeria to define its role in the transport sector, which would be very significant, there was the need to accommodate bigger ships in our ports and that was the role the Lekki Deep Seaport would play.