Trade Intelligence: How Nigerian Customs’ Data Gap Undermines Growth, Investment

For decades, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) served as a crucial public window into the nation’s trade pulse. Researchers, business owners, and investors could visit its website to access a wealth of trade statistics, import and export volumes, commodity breakdowns, trade route patterns, and details of Nigeria’s major trading partners.

Today, that window is almost completely shut.

A check on the current NCS website reveals little beyond procedural content: instructions on downloading forms, paying duties, or clearing goods.

Absent is the detailed trade intelligence that once empowered economic planning and investor confidence.

“This is not just about missing data; it’s about missing opportunities.”

Fisayo Soyombo, investigative journalist and founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, told Pinnacle Daily in an exclusive interview, “Without transparent, up-to-date trade figures, the government, private sector, and even international partners are operating partly blind.”

The Cost of Data Blackouts

Trade data is far more than numbers; it is the foundation for informed policy decisions, accurate economic forecasting, and targeted investment strategies.

In countries with active trade data portals like South Africa and Ghana, governments provide real-time or monthly updates on everything from commodity-specific volumes to bilateral trade balances.

Dr Muda Yusuf, former Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Chief Executive of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), warns that Nigeria’s opaque approach undermines its competitive edge.

“Reliable data is the lifeblood of economic planning. Without it, businesses cannot forecast demand, investors cannot measure risk, and the government cannot monitor the real-time impact of its trade policies,” Yusuf explained. “It also hurts our credibility with multilateral partners who expect transparency as a sign of good governance.”

According to Yusuf, the absence of detailed import-export breakdowns and partner-specific figures makes it difficult to detect illicit trade flows, identify underperforming sectors, and respond effectively to supply chain disruptions.

Global Benchmarks and Nigeria’s Lag

Nigeria today (what exists)

• Single Window (NSW) is signposted but still maturing. The official NSW page describes the “modern and connected trade facilitation platform”, indicating an ongoing rollout.

• Nigeria Single Window Trade Portal (trade.gov.ng) already offers tariff search, manifest rotation/AWB/BOL status tools and customs exchange-rate pages.

• The Advance Rulings database is live on Nigeria Trade Hub, with a searchable online database of published classification rulings (currently showing 1–30 of 30 results on the public list).

• Trade statistics are published centrally by NBS (quarterly), not on the customs site. NBS provides quarterly Foreign Trade in Goods reports/microdata, while NCS issues ad-hoc performance PDFs (revenue, enforcement).

The South African Customs website on the other hand offers a rich expirience when it comes to useful trade data.

South Africa boasts the largest economy in Africa, characterized by its industrialization, technological advancement, and diversification, making it a strong upper-middle-income mixed economy.

Across Africa, the digital age has transformed how customs agencies communicate with stakeholders.

• South Africa’s Customs Division publishes monthly and annual trade data, open to the public, broken down by product categories, trading partners, and ports of entry.
• Ghana’s Customs Authority does the same, offering interactive dashboards for real-time analysis.
• The Egyptian Custom Authority also offers a wide range of data to support search for usuful economic data.

By contrast, Nigeria’s NCS portal currently functions more as a procedural helpdesk than an intelligence platform. This lack of transparency not only alienates domestic users but also frustrates foreign investors accustomed to accessible datasets in other markets.

Beyond economic inefficiency, data scarcity also carries security implications. Without granular trade records, it becomes harder to track the movement of sensitive goods, detect smuggling trends, or measure compliance with international trade agreements.

Soyombo points out that such opacity can mask patterns of illicit financial flows and contraband movement.

“When data disappears from the public space, it narrows the room for public scrutiny. That’s dangerous in a sector already battling corruption and revenue leakages.”

In response to concerns about limited access to trade data, via a whatsapp conversation, the National Public Relations Officer (NPRO) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC) Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada explained that the Service makes its information available across multiple platforms, not only on its website.

He pointed out that the NCS runs a dedicated Publications category on its website, where it uploads a monthly e-newsletter.

“Each edition features a special column, Datalogue, which presents official trade data in infographic form. The July 2025 newsletter, which marked the 30th edition, was highlighted as the latest example, while the December editions usually provide full-year data summaries,” He explained

Maiwada further argued that beyond the website, the NCS also disseminates information through its social media handles, where frequent infographics capture customs operations and trade statistics.

“Additionally, the Service airs a weekly television program, “Customs Hub,” broadcast on TV and uploaded to its official YouTube channel. The program includes a segment that breaks down the Service’s weekly transactions in detail.”

The NPRO  stressed that the information is available for those who seek it, remarking: “You shouldn’t confine yourself to the website as the only platform to get access to information about us.” But for investors accustomed to one-stop, searchable databases, Nigeria’s method may still present an accessibility gap.

While this multi-platform approach provides Nigerians with different ways of accessing data, it raises a critical question for international investors and trade partners: how would they know where to look? Unlike other countries where trade data is consolidated in a single open-data portal, Nigeria’s customs information is scattered across newsletters, social media, and TV programs.

This fragmented approach could make it difficult for potential investors, researchers, and global partners to independently verify trade statistics or assess Nigeria’s transparency efforts.

What Customs Can Do Differently

Experts agree that the Nigerian Customs Service can reverse this trend through:

1. Restoring Comprehensive Trade Data: Reinstating monthly and annual datasets showing commodity volumes, values, trade routes, and partner nations.
2. Open Access Dashboards: Creating interactive, real-time databases accessible to businesses, researchers, and the public.
3. Regular Updates: Ensuring that figures are updated monthly to match international best practices.
4. Collaborative Data Sharing: Partnering with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), port authorities, and regional trade blocs like ECOWAS to synchronise figures.

Dr Yusuf notes that transparency is not just a service to the public; it is an economic multiplier. “When stakeholders have confidence in the data, they make better decisions, which in turn drives growth, creates jobs, and expands the tax base.”

The Bigger Picture

Nigeria has pledged to diversify its economy, deepen non-oil exports, and position itself as a hub for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

But without a robust, transparent trade data system, those ambitions risk being built on guesswork rather than evidence.

As Soyombo summed it up: “Transparency is not an optional extra in trade; it is the foundation. Without it, we’re navigating a trillion-naira economy with one eye closed.”

How Nigeria Compares on Trade Data Transparency

Country	Data Available Online	Update Frequency	Access Type	Impact on Investors
South Africa	Full import/export volumes, product categories, partner nations, trade balances	Monthly & Annual	Free, public access	High investor confidence supports policy and market analysis
Ghana	Trade volumes & values, commodity breakdown, port statistics	Monthly	Free, public access	Encourages regional trade partnerships and market entry
Nigeria	Mostly procedural info — no current trade volumes or partner data	N/A	Limited public access	Investor hesitation due to lack of transparency and planning data