The Nigerian government has approved the concession of automation of the Nigeria Customs Service operation valued at $3.1bn for 20 years.
The approval was given at the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.
The granting of the concession of e-Customs to the private sector was approved even though stakeholders had kicked against it, fearing that it will fail like previous similar projects.
Financial Street gathered that the approval of the e-Custom modernisation project was awarded to a newly-incorporated firm, Messers E-Customs HC Project Limited.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, explaining the approval of the project said, “So, the council today ratified Mr. President’s approval for the PPP concession for a 20-year period to Messers E-Customs HC Project Limited as a concessionaire for the delivery of customs modernisation project.
“This is a project that will not have an immediate cost to the government, the investors are providing all of the financing and this revenue will be deployed in three phases and they will look over the investment in the concessionary period of 20 years.”
