Nigeria Customs Service and the efficacy of ICT (2)

At the launch of the Trade Hub, while commending the Nigeria Customs Service Leadership, the various agencies and the private stake holders who collaborated on the project, the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed confidence that the framework will contribute towards improving the nation’s investment climate and support its transformation as an emerging market economy.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, in his opening remarks at the launch commended the Nigeria Customs and its leadership for the foresight and the resources committed to the actualization of the platform which he said will sanitize Nigeria’s international trade environment and bring it at par with the most efficient economies in the world. Also the President,
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Chief Kola Jamodu, noted that in this increasing globalized world, the primary role of customs is trade facilitation across the borders. He is keen to the fact that the introduction of a Nigeria Trade Single Window by customs at this stage, he said, is a welcome development.
Speaking recently in an interview on the ICT modernization programme of the Nigeria Customs Service, the CEO of Techno Brain West Blue, Ms Valentina Mintah, the technology partner of Nigeria Customs Service stated, “It is of real pride to have an African Customs administration trail blazing in the area of technology innovations with simple, effective solutions such as the Nigeria Trade Hub. This demonstrates what can be achieved with the vision and drive of industry leaders such as the Comptroller General of Customs, Dikko Abdullahi Inde; empowerment and capacity building of local workforce and the advancement of ICT in the region. We are certainly excited by the ICT potential in the African region” Trade facilitation initiatives benefit both the business community and governments. The business community benefits by obtaining enhanced competitiveness in national and international markets due to reduction in delays and costs which are achieved with predictable and efficient movement of goods across borders. National administrations are able to utilize modern procedures to enhance controls, ensure proper collection of revenues due and at the same time contribute to the economic development through increased trade and encouragement of foreign investment. Thus, the need for the Nigeria Customs Service as a significant member of the World Customs Organization created a safe landing for efficient controls and better trade facilitation which has brought about increased revenues accruing to the Governments. These revenues contribute significantly to the programmes aimed at increasing the social and economic well-being of the Nigeria citizenry as a whole.
It is no longer a gainsaying, that ICT is not just an enabler in the business and corporate organizations, it is now a game changer, in transforming today’s e-trading, which has increasingly enveloped various aspects of our daily lives like work, business, teaching, learning, leisure and health just to mention just a few.
Currently, the transformational drive undertaken by the Nigeria Customs Service under the auspices of the Comptroller General of Customs and other international organizations including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the European Union, cannot be over emphasized.
Perhaps the recognition of effectiveness of ICT as a key strategic business tool combined with efficient processes, a capable workforce and a legal framework that has gained acceptability amongst nations to aid trade facilitation, is what the Nigeria Customs Service has effectively leveraged, to modernize and galvanize its operational activities to meet the World Customs Organization (WCO) recommendations.
Recognising that ICT is an enabler and not a driver of modernisation efforts, the Comptroller General of Customs as part of his six point agenda has focused on other key areas to assist with the vision realisation. A typical example is the comprehensive capacity building programmes adopted by the Service. In order to meet the present global challenges, the CGC has organised various training programmes in both domain and technology within and outside the country, which covers all ranks in the Service. Achievements in this area includes the creation of key customs and trade facilitation skills in officers of the Service to international standards.
Apart from other Customs Colleges that are well equipped in the country, the Command and Staff College at Gwagwalada in Abuja, has been upgraded and approved by World Customs Organisation (WCO) to serve as a regional training centre for West and Central Africa. This is a great achievement for Nigeria made possible through Customs reform. In addition, the College boasts of an ICT Centre of Excellence offering world class ICT training programmes to NCS officers and staff of other agencies. This ground-breaking initiative by the Comptroller General complements the Customs learning and development opportunities offered to the Customs officers in the region. The ICT Centre of Excellence will aim at providing participants with key ICT skills to operate in this era of automation and technology.
Also, within the present CGC’s tenure, the Service has achieved great deal of welfare and infrastructure development in terms of adequate office and staff accommodation, provision of operational vehicles and other work tools needed to enhance efficiency and increased productivity to stimulate economic growth and development, now and in the long-run.
The results of the modernisation journey of the Nigeria Customs Service includes the mammoth feat of ending the pre shipment and destination inspection era, an approach heralded and promoted by the WCO to its member countries.  This regime where Customs functions were contracted out by the Federal Government to Service Providers eight years ago, placed the service on a very low pedestal making the Nigeria Customs Service leadership seek a new drive and approach to its modernization efforts as part of Mr President’s transformation agenda in the country. The Nigeria Customs Service following the successful takeover of these core functions from the Destination Inspection Service Providers has since saved the Treasury an estimated two billion four hundred and six million dollars paid out over the last eight years of this regime to the foreign service providers.
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The Destination Inspection programme and the associated ICT provision was initially designed to allow quick clearance of cargo and facilitate trade, which in turn would allow the Nigeria Customs Service, deal with various stakeholders electronically whilst managing risk. The ensuing results in view of the very poor return on investment and value for money were not in keeping with the Six point Agenda of the Customs Comptroller General within that period and neither did this assist with improving Nigeria’s position in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Trading Across Borders ranking. If anything, the ranking of Nigeria plummeted during this period.  Despite the colossal amounts of money spent by the Federal Government on this initiative, the ICT platform provided has been fraught with obsolete equipment and frequent server breakdowns over long periods bringing about congestion in the ports and huge financial losses to traders and the government alike, defeating the main objective of the programme.
World merchandise trade has changed its patterns in recent decades. The share of developing and emerging countries in world merchandise trade has increased. At the same time, global production specialization has advanced, particularly in manufactured goods. The share of intermediate goods as a percentage of total global merchandise exports has greatly increased. The shift in trade patterns impacts the types of transactions processed by Nigeria Customs. The international supply chain requires goods to cross borders promptly and predictably. Unnecessary delays at borders increase trade costs, erode the competitiveness of traders, and damage the international supply chain. In addition, the rise in the express cargo industry requires swift release of time-sensitive goods at borders. The needs of modern international business models exert pressure on Customs to process goods effectively and efficiently to
minimize delays at borders, whilst securing the nation’s borders, a need recognised and embraced by the Nigeria Customs Service in the bid to be recognised as a service oriented agency – one of the visions of the Comptroller General of Customs. “The development of paperless customs systems according to the Comptroller General is seen as the crucial starting point for any country to influence the growth of e-commerce and thereby improve economic performance. The spread of ICT is an opportunity for customs administrations to strengthen their positions as the vanguard of strategic developments in all countries. The vision is now to create a truly National Single Window environment with optimised processes.”
With new border rules and measures, world merchandise trade is more complicated than in the past. A number of trade measures were recently introduced under the WTO/GATT rules. Recent proliferation of RTAs and EPZs adds further complexity to goods in terms of the geographic characteristics of international trade. Growing concerns regarding key Customs enforcement areas, such as drug enforcement; security; health and safety, IPRs and the environment also resulted in new border rules and measures not only in importing countries but also in exporting countries. Nigeria Customs Service is fully attuned with the ever changing dynamics of the international trade domain and in line with the recent WTO recommendations, the next phase of the Nigeria Customs Service modernisation activities following the successful takeover from the Destination Inspection Service Providers will focus on creating a National Single Window environment, by focussing on an   approach of Stakeholder Engagement, Business Process and Data Harmonization, Legal Framework, Change Management and finally the adoption of efficient ICT tools, to reduce the time and cost of doing international trade business in Nigeria in line with the Transformation Agenda of Mr. President.