The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the customs administrations of the Republic of Benin and Cameroon are working with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on a regional border modernisation programme aimed toward bettering cross-border commerce and advancing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The initiative seeks to deal with infrastructure gaps, enhance customs procedures, strengthen digital data change and improve cargo motion alongside the Nigeria-Benin and Nigeria-Cameroon corridors.
In an announcement issued in Abuja on Sunday, NCS spokesperson Abdullahi Maiwada mentioned the discussions occurred at Afreximbank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on October 12, 2026.
The assembly, led by Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adeniyi, introduced collectively representatives of the three international locations’ customs administrations, Afreximbank and technical companions to assessment evaluation findings and determine precedence interventions.
Customs companies goal digital integration
A significant focus of the discussions was the Customs Declarations Exchange System (CDES), a proposed mechanism for safe data change among the many digital customs platforms of the three international locations.
- The system is designed to attach Nigeria’s B’Odogwu platform, Benin’s Customs Webb and Cameroon’s Customs Information System (CAMCIS), permitting export data generated in a single nation to help advance preparation of import documentation within the receiving nation.
- According to Maiwada, the system is constructed round a standard information mannequin meant to enhance data sharing and facilitate sooner cross-border processing.
- However, the receiving nation’s customs administration would retain duty for validating the data, making use of nationwide rules, conducting danger assessments and authorising cargo clearance.
Although improvement and technical testing have been undertaken, additional country-specific configuration, software programming interface integration, safety assessments and pilot acceptance are required earlier than deployment.
The discussions additionally lined Afreximbank’s potential participation within the subsequent Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) and progress in the direction of regional and continental transit assure preparations.
These measures are meant to strengthen coordination amongst customs authorities, enhance cargo visibility and scale back procedural bottlenecks affecting regional commerce.
Assessments determine infrastructure and operational gaps
The assessments of the 2 precedence corridors highlighted infrastructure deficiencies and operational challenges that might undermine the effectiveness of a modernised border system.
At the Mfum-Ekok border between Nigeria and Cameroon, the evaluation recognized unreliable electrical energy provide, poor connectivity, insufficient data expertise tools, cybersecurity issues and inadequate technical help.
Other challenges included the commissioning of cargo scanners and the necessity for coordinated single-stop border processing.
At the Sèmè-Kraké hall linking Nigeria and Benin, the evaluation discovered gaps in joint working procedures and reside information change, alongside non-functional cargo scanning and weighing services.
The hall additionally faces unreliable electrical energy, visitors congestion, inconsistent working hours and unresolved tasks for sustaining shared infrastructure.
Maiwada mentioned the findings strengthened the necessity to deal with instant operational shortcomings whereas growing a correctly assessed and costed long-term modernisation programme.
The July 2026 benchmarking mission to Zimbabwe’s Beitbridge Border Post additionally knowledgeable the discussions, with individuals analyzing how infrastructure, visitors administration, pre-arrival processing and risk-based controls might be built-in into an environment friendly border administration system.
Afreximbank proposes two-stage undertaking preparation
To transfer the initiative ahead, Afreximbank outlined a proposed two-stage method starting with impartial engineering assessments and investment-cost research on the Mfum-Ekok and Sèmè-Kraké border posts.
The second stage would contain growing separate bankable undertaking packages for the Nigeria-Cameroon and Nigeria-Benin corridors.
According to the NCS, the proposed undertaking preparation course of would cowl transaction advisory providers, authorized due diligence, monetary modelling and the identification of appropriate financing and implementation preparations.
Afreximbank additionally outlined the potential use of its Project Preparation Facility to help the method.
Technical companions TMP and Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited expressed willingness in precept to think about self-financing the preparatory work.
However, the assembly didn’t set up a last undertaking price, lending dedication, designated borrower, financing construction or implementation contract.
Nigeria chosen as pilot nation for AfCFTA simplified commerce
Earlier this 12 months, Nairametrics reported that the AfCFTA Secretariat had selected Nigeria to be the pilot country for the implementation of its Simplified Trade Regime (STR) in West Africa.
This framework is designed to simplify the procedures for small-scale merchants engaged in cross-border commerce, offering simpler entry to regional markets and contributing to higher financial integration throughout the continent.
A delegation from the AfCFTA Secretariat, led by Pedro Estevao, visited Nigeria just lately for engagements with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to speed up the implementation of the STR on the NCS headquarters in Abuja.
