NPA, NEPC Launch Export System To Boost Non-oil Trade

By Olumide Johnson

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, not long ago articulated a coordinated non-oil export expansion framework by the NPA, integrating Export Process Terminals (EPTs) with Domestic Export Warehouses (DEWs) in partnership with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). The approach combines infrastructure renewal, full automation through a National Single Window (NSW), and hinterland logistics extension to systematically connect producers, especially small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs), to global markets via streamlined, digitised export pathways.

DECISION HIGHLIGHT
The strategic integration of EPTs with DEWs under NPA–NEPC coordination establishes a unified, nationwide export pipeline anchored on efficiency, accessibility, and scale.

DECISION MEMO
Dr. Dantsoho’s framework reflects deliberate system engineering rather than incremental adjustment. By positioning EPTs as operational nodes and linking them with DEWs, the NPA is effectively extending port functionality inland, dissolving the historical constraint of coastal dependency.

His emphasis on Enugu as a commercial gateway is analytically grounded. It recognises that export competitiveness must originate from production clusters, not merely terminate at ports. The integration with the NEPC ensures that export readiness and export execution now operate within a coordinated architecture, eliminating the long-standing disconnect between policy support and logistical delivery.

The NSW provides the enabling backbone. Dr. Dantsoho’s commitment to full automation directly addresses transaction opacity, process duplication, and clearance delays. By eliminating human interface, the NPA is not only improving efficiency but also institutionalising transparency, a prerequisite for sustained investor confidence.

The concurrent rehabilitation of eastern ports, including Onne, Warri, and Calabar, reinforces this model by redistributing cargo traffic and increasing system resilience. Dr. Dantsoho’s approach is therefore multi-layered, infrastructure, process, and governance are being recalibrated simultaneously to deliver measurable export throughput gains.

The collaboration with the NEPC signals policy coherence. It aligns export promotion with logistics capability, ensuring that producers across Nigeria, including those in remote hinterlands, can access global demand without prohibitive friction.

In effect, Dr. Dantsoho is advancing a networked export system that is both inclusive and scalable, positioning the NPA as a central enabler of Nigeria’s non-oil economic transformation.

DATA BOX

• Event: 37th Enugu International Trade Fair
• Date: March 2026
• Core instruments: Export Process Terminals, National Single Window, Domestic Export Warehouses
• Institutional partners: Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Export Promotion Council
• Target segment: Small and medium-scale enterprises
• Geographic scope: Eastern ports and national hinterland

WHO WINS / WHO LOSES
Winners are Nigerian exporters, particularly small and medium-scale enterprises, who gain structured, simplified access to international markets; logistics operators and compliant service providers also benefit from increased throughput and standardization. System inefficiencies and procedural redundancies are the only clear losers.

POLICY SIGNALS
The federal government is signalling a decisive transition towards integrated trade facilitation, prioritising automation, decentralised access, and institutional coordination as core levers for export growth.

INVESTOR SIGNAL
The evolving framework indicates a strengthening logistics ecosystem with expanding opportunities in inland warehousing, export aggregation, port services, and digital trade infrastructure aligned with the National Single Window.

RISK RADAR
Residual risks are limited to execution pacing and stakeholder adaptation; however, the structured alignment between the NPA and the NEPC materially reduces coordination risk and strengthens delivery confidence.