8 cargo airlines adopt National Single Window

Receives 39,039 LPCO applications in eight weeks

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By Steve Agbota

After the air cargo manifest module went live on 27 March 2026, a total of 136 manifests have been submitted, as eight airlines and courier operators have been integrated into the system.

The Director of the NSW Secretariat, Tola Fakolade, disclosed this in Lagos at the weekend while addressing journalists on the achievements of the platform since the deployment of its phase one in March, saying that these eight airlines and courier operators have now submitted air cargo manifests on the NSW platform.

Fakolade highlighted that since the air cargo manifest module went live on 27 March 2026 with DHL as the pilot airline, a total of 136 manifests have been submitted, and eight airlines and courier operators have now submitted air cargo manifests on the NSW platform.

However, he revealed that a total of 39,039 licence, certificate, permit and other (LPCO) document applications have been submitted through the National Single Window (NSW) portal over the last eight weeks.

According to him, the feat indicates the growing reliance on the NSW for the submission and processing of trade-related licences, permits, certificates and other documents.

“Over the last eight weeks, since go-live, approximately 39,039 LPCO applications have been submitted through the platform since the go-live date. This indicates growing reliance on the NSW for the submission and processing of trade-related licences, permits, certificates and other documents,” he said.

Giving a breakdown of the LPCO applications, he mentioned that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) submitted 30,937 applications, while the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) submitted 7,942.

Fakolade added that the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) recorded 138, and the National Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) had 22 applications, adding that within the period under review, a total of 7,567 registered users have been onboarded on the NSW platform.

He highlighted that these include traders/importers, licensed customs agents, clearing and forwarding agents, and other private-sector stakeholders within the trade ecosystem.

He pointed out that the registered users that came on board within the period under review included “6,935 importers, 359 clearing and forwarding agents, 104 freight forwarders and 169 licensed customs agents”.

Fakolade emphasised that the NSW commenced training in February 2026 across Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano to prepare ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and private-sector stakeholders for effective use of the NSW platform.

“End-user training for private stakeholders is still ongoing to ensure that new users continue to receive the guidance required to fully understand the NSW platform and carry out their respective activities effectively,” he said.

He stressed that a total of 2,990 private stakeholders were trained, adding that the sessions were designed to prepare importers, exporters, freight forwarders, licensed customs agents and other private-sector users for effective use of the NSW platform.

“Public stakeholder training: a total of 579 MDA representatives were trained. The training was designed to ensure that MDA officers understood the NSW process flow, their agency-specific responsibilities, and how to carry out assigned tasks such as application review, approvals, escalations and stakeholder support. Regulatory agencies trained included NAQS, SON, NESREA, and NAFDAC, among others,” he added.

He stated that the rollout of phase two will start in June, stressing that during the second phase, they will finalise the manifest rollout for all airlines and shipping lines for the submission of manifests through the NSW.