The Managing Director (MD) of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, has outlined some of the problems affecting the efficiency of the nation's seaports to include multiplicity of government agencies, decaying facilities and inadequate power supply.

The NPA boss explained that all the outlined problems were barriers impeding foreign trade.

The nation's total imports for 2023 stood at N35.9trn, while total exports were N35.9trn. Nigeria posted a slim trade surplus of just N2.8trn in March, 2024.

Bello-Koko said NPA was determined to see the country's trade rise above what was recorded in 2023 by the time all barriers were eliminated.

Speaking as a panelist at the Business Day Conference on Nigeria's Maritime with the theme: "Unlocking Potentials and Overcoming Challenges", he emphasised the significant trade barriers in Nigeria.

Bello-Koko said, "As a government agency vital to the nation's economic revival, we are committed to addressing these trade barriers and implementing measures to revitalise and strengthen the economy.

"Our focus is on automating the port system to streamline trade, minimise congestion and reduce idle time. The Port Community System is a critical milestone in our journey to this automation, which has the potential to revolutionise port operations.

"We aim to modernise our ports to regain lost transit and transshipment of cargo to neighbouring ports and tackle bottlenecks in our export processes through strategic initiatives like the Export Processing Terminals (EPT)."

He noted that NPA under his leadership was dedicated to collaborating with relevant agencies to cultivate an innovative and excellent ecosystem for sustainable growth.