…As Nigerian Firm Secures 20-Year AfCFTA Customs Project
By George Ozalla
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described the growing continental recognition of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) modernisation programme as a major endorsement of Nigeria’s ability to develop solutions for the African market.
The President also commended Nigerian-owned Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited after its subsidiary, AfriTrade CMP Limited, was selected to implement a 20-year, multi-billion-dollar African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Customs Modernisation Project.
The project will deploy digital and physical infrastructure to improve customs processes, cargo tracking, border management and trade-data exchange among participating African countries.
The development was announced in a State House press release issued on Monday, August 10, 2026, by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Tinubu said the selection was significant because another subsidiary of the Nigerian company, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, is already implementing Nigeria’s customs modernisation programme through the NCS.
According to him, the experience gained from the Nigerian project has shown that local expertise can produce systems capable of serving the needs of other African countries.
“What has been built and tested in Nigeria is now providing a model for the continent. This is how African integration should work: Africans building African solutions for African market,” the President said.
He added: “Nigerian institutions and businesses can help build the technology and infrastructure that will make that market work.”
The President said his administration, under the Nigeria First policy, would continue to provide opportunities for capable Nigerian businesses to compete within the country, across Africa and in the global market.
He commended Bergmans, AfriTrade CMP Limited, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, and the Nigerian professionals involved in the modernisation programme.
The President’s comments came shortly after the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, visited the NCS Headquarters in Abuja and inspected the Trade Modernisation Project in operation.
Mene was accompanied by members of the Senate Committee on Customs, led by its Chairman, Senator Jibrin Isah, following the conclusion of a two-day retreat on customs modernisation and reforms.
During the visit, Mene singled out B’Odogwu, Nigeria’s indigenous Unified Customs Management System, as a model that could be used in other African countries.
He disclosed that companies outside Africa had offered similar systems but said AfCFTA chose an African solution for the continental project.
The choice has placed Nigeria’s customs technology and the professionals behind it in a position to contribute directly to the development of Africa’s trade infrastructure. It also gives practical meaning to the argument that African integration should include the use of expertise and technology developed within the continent.
Senator Isah, who witnessed the systems in operation, expressed the committee’s support for the modernisation programme and said members had become ambassadors of the initiative.
B’Odogwu was first piloted in October 2024 and has since become a key part of the NCS modernisation programme. It supports the digital handling of customs processes and works with other systems covering cargo tracking, data management, surveillance, risk assessment and non-intrusive inspection.
The modernisation programme is also being linked with the National Single Window, launched in March 2026 as a single digital gateway for cross-border trade processes.
The combination of these systems is intended to make the movement of goods and the exchange of trade information easier, while giving customs and other border agencies better access to information needed for clearance, revenue collection and enforcement.
The AfCFTA project now gives the Nigerian experience a much wider field of application. For the NCS, it is also a recognition of the work being done to replace fragmented and manual customs processes with a technology-based system.
The development is equally significant for Nigerian businesses, as a Nigerian-owned company will now be involved in a major continental customs project expected to operate over two decades.
It places Nigeria’s customs modernisation experience within the wider effort to make the African market more connected, improve movement of goods across borders and support the implementation of AfCFTA.
