Nigeria-Bound Goods To Be Cleared From Cotonou Ports Soon

Adewale Adeniyi, acting comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service, has announced that Nigeria-bound goods will soon be cleared from ports located in Cotonou, a city in the West African country Benin.

Following the two-day visit of the director-general and senior officials of the customs service of Benin Republic to Abuja, Adeniyi disclosed on Tuesday that both countries have entered into several agreements to enhance trade relations and stop smuggling activities at ports.

"We are building confidence in the system offered by the Republic of Benin, our importers are using their ports and vice-versa. If there are people in the Benin Republic who want to use our ports, we try to build trust in our systems," the Adeniyi said, as per Punch.

He went on to explain under the partnership, Nigerian importers will be able to use the ports in Cotonou and have their goods cleared from there. According to him, there will be "an opportunity for them to pay duties on goods that are liable for payment of duties."

"We can account for the duties on those goods in the ports of arrival. So, they will now be free to enter Nigeria," the Nigerian official added.

Adeniyi also addressed concerns about vehicle smuggling in ports, noting that it happens "beyond vehicles." He added that "any goods arriving in Cotonou ports, the duty can be accessed and payment can be made and from there, it comes into the Nigerian territory."

He explained that it will be like when goods enter the Nigerian territory via Lagos or Port Harcourt. "It is pretty much the same. But we have not got there. We have agreed in principle that we can operationalize this," he said.

"So, the steps that we are going to take to get us to that particular destination is what we are going to be working on," he added. "It was mentioned in the communique that we are going to establish timelines when we hope to achieve that particular milestone."

Adeniyi then pointed out that this partnership between Nigeria and Benin will ensure enhanced customs administration, trade facilitation and regional cooperation.

Nigeria exported $134 million worth of products to Benin in 2021 and imported $24.2 million worth of goods from it, according to OEC. Nigeria exports products like electricity, refined petroleum and hot-rolled iron bars while it imports cranes, tug boats and seed oils.