AfCFTA to Build Unified Digital Trade Platform on Nigerian Customs Technology

| By: Francis Onyemachi

The African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited to implement the AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Projec.

Bashir Adeniyi, comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), who spoke at the MoU signing in Lagos, said the agreement is a way forward in accelerating intra-African trade under AfCFTA.

“In Nigeria, we moved from Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) to NICIS and now to B’Odogwu, our indigenous customs processing platform. Other countries such as Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda and Morocco operate different systems. What this agreement will achieve is interoperability, allowing these systems to communicate seamlessly,” Adeniyi said.

Adeniyi explained that African countries currently operate different customs management systems, making cross-border trade unnecessarily complex.

In his words, customs declarations made in one African country would be recognised and processed electronically in another once the agreement is implemented.

He added that successful implementation will help eliminate duplication and reduce delays at border crossings.

“If you make a declaration in Ghana, it should not be difficult for the Nigerian Customs system to process it as an import. This is what the agreement means, and it is truly historic,” Adeniyi said.

The Comptroller-General explained that the absence of digital integration among customs administrations has been a huge bottleneck despite decades of trade facilitation efforts.

For Wamkele Mene, secretary-general of the AfCFTA Secretariat, the initiative is in line with AfCFTA’s goal of simplifying trade for African businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

Mene explained that AfCFTA has closely followed the customs modernisation initiative by the Nigeria Customs Service and considers it suitable for continental adoption.

“We have been observing the excellent work done in Nigeria in digitising customs operations, improving revenue collection and modernising border management. The continent has much to gain from this model,” Mene said.

According to him, “We want to create a continental customs system where economic operators can move goods efficiently across borders. This partnership with Bergmans Security will help us realise that vision.”

The Secretary-General said successful implementation of the initiative across the continent would have the greatest impact on SMEs, informal traders and smallholder farmers while reducing the costs associated with border delays.

“When businesses can clear goods quickly, affordably and efficiently, they benefit directly. That is the promise of digital customs.”

He cited the Ghana-Togo border as an example where one-stop border posts exist physically but still lack digital interoperability, forcing traders to undergo multiple customs procedures.

Meanwhile, Adeniyi, speaking on revenue generation, said simplifying border procedures would help boost government earnings. He also noted that the platform would integrate smoothly with Nigeria’s ongoing National Single Window initiative and similar digital trade systems being introduced across Africa.

“If we get trade facilitation right, we reduce delays, lower the cost and time of doing business, and businesses will clear more goods faster. Ultimately, higher trade volumes will translate into increased customs revenue,” he said.

For successful implementation, Adeniyi said the partnership will focus on deploying the platform, building awareness among stakeholders and training customs personnel across participating countries.

Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited, speaking on the agreement, said it represents the export of a homegrown Nigerian technology to the rest of Africa.

Saleh Ahmadu, Chairman of BSCS, said the company has spent the last five years developing and deploying customs technology in Nigeria, proving that locally developed solutions can address Africa’s trade challenges.

He urged stakeholders to support local talent and the development of homegrown solutions that can serve the world.

“Our system was built in Nigeria, for Africa. AfCFTA evaluated different international solutions but found that our platform was better suited to African realities.

“The goal is to build one African customs platform that allows customs administrations to work together seamlessly,” he said.

He added that implementation would begin with at least six African countries before expanding across the continent.

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