THE Nigerian Ports Authority has said that the ports would be fully digitalised in 2025.
Acting Managing Director of NPA Mohammed Bello-Koko was quoted to have said this in a statement forwarded to our correspondent on Saturday by Assistant General Manager of Corporate and Strategic Communications of the ports agency Ibrahim Nasiru in Lagos.
The Acting NPA MD, who was represented by the Executive Director of Engineering and Technical Services Idris Abubakar, a professor, disclosed that the NPA first deployed a main computer system in 1975 to improve its payroll management, billing, statistical and accounting systems.
Speaking at the 41st Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) Annual Council Meeting, Bello-Koko said that a lot of work had gone into the smart port transformation agenda of the Authority, which was aimed at enthroning a paperless, time-saving and cost-efficient port operations.
He noted that from 1992, the deployment of personal computers was done at each port location to ease data management, and information sharing was difficult as there was no connectivity between the ports.
He explained that the Authority reviewed its ICT strategy in 2011 with its new role as landlord, following the concession of port terminals in 2006.
At present, the NPA is posed for the attainment of a fully digitalised port system in Nigeria with a five-year plan in place, he said.
“So far, the Authority has deployed a portfolio of systems and infrastructure towards the actualization of its ICT objectives.
“These include Oracle Enterprise Business Suite for financial and human resources planning; Billing/Revenue and Invoice Management System (RIMS) to fast-track billing processing; Customer Portal/electronic Ship Entry Notice (eSEN)/Manifest Upload for shipping traffic management.
“Hyperion Budgeting for management of annual budget; Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence System (3Ci) for maritime domain awareness and management of vessel calls; truck call up and gate access control for the control and schedule of trucks to the ports as well as manage truck traffic around the port corridor.”
The NPA MD explained that at a time like this when the international supply chain was faced with several disruptions, a digitalised port would optimise productivity and meet the expectations of port users.
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