New Telegraph

Customs modernisation unit battles failed N1.55trn project

ENTERPRISE

There is plan by government to completely automate every customs business

 

Almost a year after its approval, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)’s N1.55trillion (3.1billion) modernisation project is yet to take off in all the seaports, borders and airports. Findings by New Telegraph revealed that Customs modernisation unit is yet to finished its assignment on the project.

 

It was gathered that the unit is saddled with responsibilities of ensuring the deployment of e- Customs production applications such as e-Clearance, e-Port System, Risk Control Centre (RCC), Logistics Management System (LMS), Electric Cargo Tracking System (ECTS), Intelligent Gate (i -Gate) and Mobile Enforcement (ME).

 

The service’s spokesman, Mr Joseph Attah, a Deputy Comptroller, told New Telegraph that work was ongoing on the project. He added that a modernisation unit was doing its job in every aspect of the project, adding that after the unit finished its assignments, the project would commence as conceived.

 

Government had said that the project had the potential of yielding up to $176 billion in revenue for the country.

 

However, a maritime lawyer, Barrister Ebenezer Oladimeji, a Senior Partner at I D Akintoye & CO, said that it was doubtful if the project could yield such an amount when considering the level of corruption at port and past concession the government had entered into at different times.

He explained that government said the same thing when some port terminals were concessioned in 2006, saying that 15 years after, it was one excuse or the other.

Oladimeji stressed that government had not met its revenue target since then, saying that the concessionaires were hiding under gridlock, congestion and the dilapidated state of the port to give reasons for low revenue.

It would be recalled that the major objective of the project is to completely automate every aspect of the customs business and to institutionalise the use of smart and emerging technologies that will enhance the statutory function of the service in the areas of revenue generation, trade facilitation and enhancement of security.

Because of these reasons, on September 2, 2020, the Federal Government approved a consortium, e-Customs HC Projects Nigeria Limited, comprising of four firms in a 20-year concession arrangement with the NCS and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) for a modernisation project

 

. The consortium comprises of Bionica Technologies West Africa, Bergan Security Consultants & Suppliers, Africa Finance Corporation and Huawei, to establish a project special purpose vehicle to enter into a 20-year concession arrangement with NCS and ICRC.

The modernisation project, which began in 2016, went through a rigorous diligence test when 94 companies responded to a bid request by the Customs. However, only four firms scaled through the exercise last year.

 

It was learnt that the project had the potential to yield up to $176 billion in revenue for the country. Last year, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning,

Mrs Zainab Ahmed, presented the memo intended to enable the complete automation of the service processes and procedures, using the application and information and technology in all aspects of Customs administration.

 

She revealed that the project would  be managed by e-Customs HC Projects Nigeria Limited for a concessionary period of 20 years. Ahmed stressed that the key point was that the project would not cost the Federal Government anything, noting that the $3.1 billion being proposed would be sourced by the sponsors and the partners.

The strategic plan for the e- Customs Project began in 2016 when 94 companies responded to a bid request by NCS. Ahmed noted: “The committee that led this process also looked at the National Trade Impact (NTI) process that has been going on for years and confirmed that the Nigerian e-customs project is a subset of the National Trade Impact and would prefer the Nigerian Customs to play its leadership role in the national trading platform.

 

“The Bionica Technologies West Africa Limited, Bargain Securities and Supplies Nigeria Limited, these are lead sponsor and co-sponsor.

“We also have the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as the lead financier and Huawei Technology as a technical service provider.” Ahmed said that the investors would provide all of the financings, saying that revenue would be deployed in three phases and that investors would look over the investment in the concessionary period of 20 years.

She explained: “The Nigerian Customs Service currently has some level of automation services but it’s not all of its serves that are automated. “This is an end to end automation of all of Nigeria’s Customs Service processes and it’s going to bring huge value to the country.”

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