NPA To Assess Inland Dry Ports
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) expresses readiness to tour all the Inland Dry Ports in the country to ascertain their capacity, even as Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, the NPA boss urges the Inland Containers Nigeria Limited (ICNL) to plug into the Eto and the National Single Window (NSW) projects
By Innocent Chukwu
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) will embark on a nationwide tour to assess the readiness and capacity of all the Inland Dry Ports, its Managing Director, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, announced last week.
Dr. Dantsoho made the announcement when he and his Management team received the Inland Containers Nigeria Limited (ICNL) delegation, led by its Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Omotayo Dada, at the NPA Headquarters in Lagos.
He told the ICNL executives that the NPA’s operations are now nearly 90 per cent automated.
He called on the company to align its systems with the Eto system, Port Community Systems and the National Single Window, so that cargo can be tracked in real time, bottlenecks reduced and transparency improved.
Dr. Dantsoho emphasized the need to upgrade inland dry port infrastructure to handle the increased cargo expected from seaport modernisation. He also called for public-private partnerships to improve facilities, streamline logistics and ease the cost of doing business.
The meeting focused on deepening operational synergy, addressing hurdles in hinterland trade connectivity, aligning with national trade facilitation goals, and improving cargo evacuation from seaports to inland dry ports.
Mr. Dada reaffirmed the partnership as the backbone of Nigeria’s multimodal chain linking coastal ports to northern hubs. He highlighted the role of the Kaduna Inland Dry Port in serving northern shippers and landlocked countries such as Niger and Chad.
Both parties committed to adopting technology, intermodal rail evacuation and stronger dry port facilities.
This is in line with the goals of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy for port efficiency, reduced congestion and economic growth.
