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By Steve Agbota
The Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) has warned that critical structural and operational gaps could derail the National Single Window (NSW), which is set to be rolled out by March 27.
APFFLON, in a strongly-worded technical advisory signed by its President, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite, raised a red flag over operational deficits on NSW, if immediate corrective steps are not taken.
The association stressed that its position is not opposition to reform but a professional risk assessment grounded in operational realities within Nigeria’s cargo clearance and trade facilitation ecosystem.
However, APFFLON acknowledged that the NSW is globally recognised as a transformative trade facilitation tool capable of improving transparency, reducing clearance time and boosting competitiveness.
Meanwhile, the association cautioned that such systems succeed only when built on internationally accepted principles, including inclusiveness, regulatory harmonisation, systems integration readiness and phased deployment.
According to the association, one of the most pressing concerns is what it described as a stakeholder architecture deficiency, warning that sidelining or marginalising recognised freight forwarding bodies could weaken operational alignment and undermine user-level acceptance.
Without the confidence of primary end-users, APFFLON said, adoption rates may decline, potentially leading to workarounds and parallel processes that defeat the very essence of a single digital window.
“Incomplete process harmonisation across Customs procedures, port authority workflows, terminal operations, quarantine services and other regulatory checkpoints. Signals from industry operators suggest that inter-agency workflow standardisation may not yet be fully synchronised – a development that could create friction once the system goes live,” APFFLON said.
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APFFLON further flagged insufficient end-user simulation and testing as a significant risk, maintaining that comprehensive sandbox testing and live cargo simulations involving licensed operators are essential before any nationwide activation.
The association also warned that limited grassroots exposure during training, the heightens the risk of bottlenecks at launch, as concerns were equally raised about data governance and integration stability.
The association cautioned that a successful Single Window depends on secure data exchange protocols, cybersecurity safeguards and seamless compatibility with legacy platforms.
“Premature deployment without rigorous stress-testing of integration layers could disrupt cargo processing timelines and trigger costly downtime,” the association warned.
On the proposed March 27 implementation date, APFFLON described the timeline as “overly ambitious” given prevailing preparedness indicators. Large-scale trade digitalisation reforms, it argued, typically undergo phased pilots, controlled deployment stages and performance audits before full national activation.
If rushed, the association warned, the consequences could include cargo clearance delays, increased transaction costs, system downtime, port congestion and erosion of industry confidence.
While reaffirming its support for the Federal Government’s Marine and Blue Economy reform agenda, APFFLON urged authorities to immediately review stakeholder engagement structures, expand industry-wide simulation exercises, conduct an independent system readiness audit and adopt a phased pilot rollout model.
“The National Single Window can transform Nigeria’s trade competitiveness, but success must be driven by inclusiveness, technical integrity and operational realism,” the association posited.
