The Federal Government has directed ministries, departments and agencies involved in trade regulation to complete Phase 2 of the National Single Window by the end of November 2026.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, gave the directive on Wednesday in Abuja at a stakeholder meeting on the activation of Phase 2 of the National Single Window and the Export Tracker.
Oduwole said the second phase would address fragmented processes, duplication and poor coordination among government agencies, which have contributed to delays and higher costs for exporters.
“At the close of this engagement, we must know what we own in the Phase 2 journey, where we stand against the agreed milestones, what remains outstanding, which institutions or systems we depend on and who owns the next action, with a firm delivery date which is the end of November 2026,” Oduwole said.
The minister said the National Single Window, which became operational on March 27, had processed over 124,614 licences and permits, registered 11,096 importers and agents, trained more than 8,000 users and facilitated about N12.59bn in regulatory payments.
“It is a long time coming for Nigeria. We have joined the league of nations with a National Single Window and, for a trading nation, it was Mr President’s target and we all need to be proud of that,” she said.
However, Oduwole stressed that launching the platform was only the beginning, saying its success would be measured by whether exporters experienced faster, simpler and more predictable procedures.
She said Phase 2 would integrate export permits, certificates, licences, inspections, payments and other regulatory processes into a coordinated digital system based on “one portal, one submission and one coordinated process.”
“Information already held by the government should not be requested repeatedly. Institutions will retain their statutory responsibilities, but exporters do not have to navigate the government’s internal complexity to complete one transaction.
“That complexity is ours to solve, not theirs to carry. They should experience the Nigerian government as one government,” she said.
Oduwole said the ministry was harmonising processes involving agencies including the Federal Produce Inspection Service, SON, NEPZA and NEPC ahead of the integrated export track.
Meanwhile, the Director of the National Single Window Secretariat, Mr Tola Fakolade, said five agencies had been fully onboarded: SON, NAFDAC, Nigerian Customs Service, Nigeria Quarantine Service and NESREA.
He added that 25 of Nigeria’s 27 cargo-handling airlines had joined the platform, with over 2,523 air cargo manifests submitted. For sea cargo, 48 of 88 shipping lines had joined, with 99 manifests submitted since electronic sea-manifest submission began about three weeks ago.
Fakolade said initial technical challenges had been resolved, while the Executive Chairman of the National Revenue Service, Dr Zacch Adedeji, urged participating agencies to meet the agreed implementation schedules.
Phase 2 is expected to reduce documentation duplication, speed up export processing and make it easier for Nigerian businesses to access international markets.
