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Our revenue will double with RIMS introduction – NPA boss

By BusinessNews Staff on September 12, 2015

The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Habib Abdullahi has said revenue generated revenue is set to double in the months ahead following the introduction of “Integrated Revenue Invoicing Management System (RIMS)” by the Authority.

RIMS, was launched week at an impressive ceremony, which attracted several stakeholders in the maritime industry.

The NPA boss said the introduction of RIMS was aimed at addressing the rot in the ports operations and blocking revenue leakages in the system.

Abdullahi told THISDAY in Lagos that apart from blocking the revenue leakages, going by the agency’s projections, its generated revenue would double in 2016.

According to him, this would not only boost the nation’s economy but would meet financial expectations of the federal government in the months ahead.
He said, with the full automation of the operational process of the NPA, its revenues from the ports would exceed its projections based on the positive efforts of its management. The overall budget performance for 2013 and 2014 showed that NPA was doing fine. He said with the port reforms, which was initiated during the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasnjo, NPA is now in a position to monitor the activities of the terminal operators to ensure strict compliance and track revenues through the several automation platforms they have introduced.

“As you are aware ports operations involves a network of processes and documentations along the chain of activities from the port of loading to the port of destination. Effective coordination of the activities makes the integration of the processes through automation absolutely necessary in order to facilitate seamless operations thereby reducing both costs and time.

“With the introduction of Revenue Invoicing Management Systems (RIMS), the current management of NPA under the leadership of Habib Abdullahi will be able to track where the revenue is leaking and it was based on his commitment that they have been able to achieve over 95 per cent of their annual budget in the last three years”, he said.

Abdullahi’s assertions were corroborated by NPA’s Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mr. Olumide Oduntan, who revealed that based on the projection, the introduction of the RIMS solution will improve cargo based revenue by 52 per cent in one year and 65 per cent subsequently.

The Executive Director also disclosed that the e-ship entry notice initiative introduced by the authority last year has improved Gross Tonnage (GRT) based revenue by 38 per cent between 2014 and 2015.

He said: “The deployment of e-SEN and RIMS Solution by the NPA has blocked all leakages in our operational activities by 95 per cent and the remaining five per cent would be blocked upon the launch of a command and control centre which is expected to go live by the end of November this year.”

THISDAY checks revealed that the authority was also stepping up efforts to remove all impediments to doing business in the nation’s seaports. It was gathered that the current management has continued to position the nation’s sea ports for a hub status, especially the Lagos ports through continuous dredging, as well as the removal of wrecks and derelicts from the channels.

An official of the Federal Ministry of Transport, which superintendents the authority said in order to double its revenue and surpass the budget target, what NPA needs now is the trade facilitation role of other government agencies.

The official who did not want his name in print said: “NPA has put its house in order with the cadre of the people that are currently leading the agency. But there is need for the federal government to ensure that the role of other agencies makes it very easy for any of the landlocked countries in West and Central Africa to know that the goods that are passing through Nigerian ports are safe, secured and will be delivered wherever they are needed.”

[ThisDay]

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