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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has strengthened its commitment to coordinated border management, trade facilitation and regional economic integration following a high-level benchmarking mission to the Beitbridge Border Post located between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The mission brought together Nigeria’s Comptroller-General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi; Fongod Nuvaga, Director-General of Cameroon Customs; Raouf Aboudou, Director-General of Benin Customs; Lonto Ndlovu, Acting Commissioner of Customs and Excise at the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA); and Alhaji Saleh Ahmadu, Chairman of Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited.
The mission was organised with support from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) as part of efforts to deepen intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking during the adoption of the Joint Communiqué on Monday, Adeniyi described the mission as a strategic opportunity for African customs administrations to move from discussing border reform to implementing modern border management systems.
He said lessons from the Beitbridge and Chirundu border posts, both in Zimbabwe, reinforced the importance of coordinated institutional frameworks, digital integration and collaborative leadership.
“Beitbridge has demonstrated that border modernisation is not merely about infrastructure development. The most important lesson for us is that sustainable reform depends on coordinated institutions, clear accountability, digital interoperability and professional human capital.
We are leaving here with a renewed commitment to translate these lessons into practical solutions that will strengthen trade facilitation, security and economic growth across our region,” Adeniyi said.
The five-day mission included technical sessions, a facility tour and executive briefings by border agencies in Zimbabwe.
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A benchmarking technical team comprising the NCS, Cameroon Customs Administration, Benin Customs Administration, Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited, and Bsmart Technologies briefed the customs chiefs on the Beitbridge Modernisation and Concession Model, including its financing structure, operational framework, revenue management systems and coordinated border governance architecture.
Participants toured the freight terminal, cargo processing facilities, scanning operations, traffic segmentation systems and integrated ICT infrastructure.
According to the Joint Communiqué, the mission was conceived within a broader continental effort to facilitate trade across West Africa and between West and Central Africa.
It identified the Sèmè-Kraké corridor linking Nigeria and Benin Republic, and the Mfum-Ekok corridor connecting Nigeria and Cameroon, as strategic routes that stand to benefit from coordinated border management and One-Stop Border Post arrangements.
Nuvaga said customs administrations must work together to remove procedural bottlenecks hindering legitimate trade while maintaining effective border controls, adding that stronger regional cooperation would help African countries fully harness the opportunities created by the AfCFTA.
Aboudou said lessons from Beitbridge offer practical pathways for improving border efficiency within West Africa, stressing that harmonised procedures, coordinated risk management systems and stronger institutional partnerships would be critical to achieving seamless trade movement across regional corridors.
Afreximbank’s Director for Trade Facilitation and Investment Promotion, Dr Gainmore Zanamwe, said the exercise was meant to expose participating administrations to the governance structures and institutional reforms underpinning modern border posts, not merely to showcase infrastructure. “Infrastructure is important, but what truly drives performance is an operating model built on accountability, coordination, technology and measurable service standards. Those are the lessons we hope will be replicated across strategic corridors on the continent,” he said.
The mission concluded with the signing of a Joint Communiqué committing Nigeria, Cameroon and Benin to establish a Trilateral Strategic Steering Committee to drive implementation of the recommendations from the visit. The three customs administrations also pledged to pursue harmonised procedures, digital interoperability, coordinated risk management systems and sustained investment in personnel development.
