Twenty-year agreement aims to digitise customs systems across Africa, reduce border delays and strengthen intra-African trade under the continent’s largest free trade initiative
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has signed a 20-year, US$3.1 billion concession agreement to modernise customs administration across Africa, marking one of the most ambitious trade facilitation projects undertaken since the continental free trade agreement came into force in 2021.
The agreement, signed in Abuja between the AfCFTA Secretariat and Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited, seeks to deploy digital customs infrastructure, advanced inspection technologies and integrated border management systems across participating African countries to improve trade efficiency and accelerate regional economic integration.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene described the initiative as a strategic milestone in building a digitally enabled continental trading system capable of supporting Africa’s long-term economic transformation.
According to Mene, the Customs Modernisation Project will provide the technological infrastructure required to implement AfCFTA protocols on customs harmonisation and trade facilitation while enabling customs authorities to improve operational efficiency, strengthen revenue collection and facilitate faster movement of goods across African borders.
He disclosed that approximately 50 African countries have already aligned with the initiative, which supports AfCFTA’s vision of creating a single continental market comprising 1.3 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product estimated at US$3.4 trillion.
The agreement follows an earlier Memorandum of Understanding signed between both organisations and reflects AfCFTA’s growing emphasis on digital trade infrastructure as a prerequisite for continental integration.
Mene noted that the initiative was inspired partly by Nigeria’s customs modernisation experience, where digital technologies deployed by Bergmans reportedly improved cargo clearance processes, enhanced transparency and strengthened government revenue collection.
“The Nigerian experience demonstrated that technology can transform customs administration. The success recorded gave the AfCFTA Secretariat the confidence to replicate the model across the continent,” he said.
He also commended the Federal Government and the Nigeria Customs Service for creating the enabling environment that allowed the model to be tested successfully.
For Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited, Chairman Saleh Ahmadu described the concession as the beginning of a long-term investment programme designed to modernise customs operations throughout Africa.
According to him, the company will invest the entire US$3.1 billion required under the agreement to deploy digital customs infrastructure, integrated data centres, multilingual customs portals and advanced Non-Intrusive Inspection technologies capable of improving border efficiency and simplifying cross-border trade.
“Our experience in Nigeria has achieved remarkable success and attracted international recognition. It has become a model for customs modernisation across Africa, and we are committed to delivering a world-class customs ecosystem that supports the continent’s economic integration,” Ahmadu said.
The AfCFTA Secretariat believes the project will address persistent challenges that continue to constrain intra-African trade, including fragmented customs systems, inconsistent border procedures, lengthy cargo clearance processes and weak information sharing among customs administrations.
The initiative is expected to improve customs harmonisation, strengthen risk management systems, reduce the cost of cross-border commerce and enhance implementation of the AfCFTA agreement.
BrandiQ Analysis
This is not merely a customs automation project. It represents an attempt to build the digital operating system of Africa’s single market. Since AfCFTA commenced trading in 2021, public debate has focused largely on tariff reductions. Yet economists have long argued that tariffs are only one component of trade competitiveness.
Far more costly are non-tariff barriers – slow border procedures, inconsistent documentation, fragmented customs systems, poor information sharing and administrative delays. The World Bank, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa have consistently identified inefficient border administration as one of the biggest obstacles to expanding intra-African trade.
The significance of this agreement therefore lies not simply in digitising customs operations but in reducing what economists describe as transaction costs. Every additional day a shipment spends at a border increases logistics costs, ties up working capital, weakens supply chains and reduces the competitiveness of African businesses.
Digital customs systems have the potential to compress clearance times from days to hours, creating measurable productivity gains across entire regional value chains.
Another important dimension is data integration. Modern customs administrations increasingly function as intelligence systems rather than merely tax collection agencies. Integrated digital platforms enable customs authorities to improve cargo risk assessment, combat smuggling, strengthen revenue collection and facilitate legitimate trade simultaneously.
In this sense, customs modernisation is becoming an important pillar of Africa’s digital economy.
The Bigger Question: Can Digital Borders Create a Truly Integrated African Market?
The announcement also raises a more fundamental political economy question.
Can Africa build a single market by digitising customs alone? The answer is almost certainly no.
Efficient customs systems are necessary, but they are not sufficient. Continental trade integration also depends on transport infrastructure, rail connectivity, port efficiency, energy availability, payment systems, regulatory harmonisation, logistics capacity, trade finance, dispute resolution mechanisms and political commitment among member states.
Digital customs platforms cannot compensate for congested ports, poor highways, multiple security checkpoints or inconsistent trade policies. Nor can technology alone eliminate the institutional fragmentation that continues to characterise many African border crossings.
In other words, digital customs are an enabler – not a substitute – for broader regional integration.
What This Means for Nigeria
Nigeria stands to benefit significantly if implementation matches ambition. As Africa’s largest economy and one of its biggest manufacturing and consumer markets, Nigeria depends heavily on efficient regional trade to diversify exports beyond crude oil.
Faster customs procedures could improve the competitiveness of Nigerian manufacturers, agro-processors, pharmaceutical companies, creative exporters and digital service providers seeking access to African markets.
The recognition of Nigeria’s customs modernisation experience also enhances the country’s profile as an exporter of governance and digital public infrastructure—not merely goods and services.
However, sustaining that leadership will require continued investment in customs technology, cybersecurity, digital identity systems, trade facilitation and border infrastructure.
BrandiQ Verdict
The US$3.1 billion Customs Modernisation Project signals that Africa’s integration agenda is entering a more practical phase. The continent is gradually shifting from signing trade agreements to building the institutional infrastructure required to make those agreements work.
Yet the project’s ultimate success will not be measured by the number of digital platforms deployed or inspection scanners installed. It will be measured by whether African businesses can move goods faster, cheaper and more predictably across borders.
For policymakers, the lesson is profound. Trade agreements create markets. Institutions make those markets function. Digital infrastructure makes them competitive.
Africa has taken an important step toward modernising its borders. The next challenge is ensuring that customs reform becomes part of a broader strategy to build a truly integrated continental economy – one in which technology, logistics, regulation and political will converge to transform AfCFTA from a legal framework into a living commercial reality.
