By Seun Ibiyemi
The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) has raised fresh concerns over Nigeria’s failure to implement the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN), warning that the delay is costing the country an estimated N900 billion annually in revenue leakages.
The organisation made this known in a policy commentary titled “The Urgent Imperative of Implementing the ICTN in Nigeria,” released on Thursday in Abuja by its Head of Research, Dr. Eugene Nweke.
Nweke noted that adopting the ICTN could reduce cargo clearance time by 25–35 per cent and cut trade malpractices by 40 per cent within 18 months, significantly improving Nigeria’s competitiveness in the regional maritime sector.
Describing ICTN as a trade facilitation tool, he said the system enhances transparency, strengthens port security, reduces demurrage, enables pre-arrival cargo processing, and seals key revenue leakages that currently undermine Nigeria’s maritime economy.
He explained that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), supervised by the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, is the lead agency mandated to deploy the ICTN, working in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, and NIMASA.
Despite approval by the Federal Executive Council in 2023, he said the system has not yet been implemented.
“Without this pre-verification system, Nigeria’s trade regulators will continue operating reactively, allowing room for cargo concealment, under-declaration and falsified manifests,” Nweke cautioned.
He revealed that the ongoing delay could cause losses estimated between N800 billion and N1.2 trillion annually, driven by non-standardised declarations and concealed shipments.
Highlighting regional successes, he noted that Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Angola recorded an 18–22 per centincrease in customs revenue, a 30 per cent reduction in port delays, and a 40 per cent fall in false declarations within two years of ICTN adoption.
Nweke also warned that stagnation on the ICTN rollout could disrupt timelines for the National Single Window (NSW) expected in 2026 and weaken the gains of the ongoing Customs modernisation drive.
He stressed that the ICTN should not be viewed as a competing system but a foundational data layer required to unify port operations and drive national digital reforms.
According to him, the absence of a cargo tracking system exposes Nigeria to security threats, including undetected arms, drugs, and hazardous shipments.
He added that Nigeria’s continued exclusion from countries operating the electronic cargo note system affects investor confidence and undermines compliance with international standards set by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).