…As AfCFTA picks Nigerian firm for multi-billion dollar project

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed the growing continental recognition of Nigeria’s customs modernisation programme following the selection of a subsidiary of Nigerian-owned Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited for a 20-year, multi-billion-dollar African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Customs Modernisation Project.

The President also commended the Nigerian company and other stakeholders involved in the development of the country’s indigenous customs modernisation system, describing the development as a validation of Nigeria’s capacity to build homegrown solutions for the wider African market.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Monday.

The project, which will be implemented through Bergmans’ subsidiary, AfriTrade CMP Limited, is expected to deploy digital and physical infrastructure to improve customs processes, cargo tracking, border management and trade-data exchange across participating African countries.

Another Bergmans subsidiary, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, is implementing Nigeria’s homegrown customs modernisation programme.

Tinubu said the selection of the Nigerian-owned firm demonstrated that solutions developed and tested in Nigeria could serve as models for 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 opportunities. Nigeria must not only participate in Africa’s single market. Nigerian institutions and businesses can help build the technology and infrastructure that will make that market work.

“Under our Nigeria First policy, we will continue to create opportunities for capable Nigerian businesses to compete at home, across Africa and globally,” the President said.

Tinubu commended Bergmans, AfriTrade CMP Limited, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the Nigerian professionals involved in the programme.

“I commend Bergmans, AfriTrade CMP Limited, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, the Nigeria Customs Service, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the Nigerian professionals whose work has earned this confidence,” he said.

The AfCFTA Secretary-General, Wamkele Mene, who was in Abuja for the agreement, also visited the headquarters of the Nigeria Customs Service to observe the country’s customs modernisation programme in operation.

Mene was accompanied by members of the Senate Committee on Customs, led by its Chairman, Senator Jibrin Isah, following the conclusion of the committee’s two-day retreat on customs modernisation and reforms.

During the visit, Mene described B’Odogwu, Nigeria’s indigenous Unified Customs Management System, as a model for Africa.

He disclosed that non-African companies had also offered similar customs modernisation services but said AfCFTA opted for an African solution, underscoring the importance of African expertise, innovation and technological capacity.

Also speaking after inspecting the systems, Isah said members of the Senate Committee on Customs had become ambassadors of the modernisation programme after seeing its operations firsthand.

B’Odogwu, which was first piloted in October 2024, has become a central component of Nigeria’s customs modernisation efforts.

The system operates alongside other components of the programme, including cargo tracking, data infrastructure, surveillance, risk management and non-intrusive inspection.

The customs modernisation programme is also being integrated with the National Single Window, launched in March 2026 as a single digital gateway for cross-border trade processes.

The integration is expected to support faster and more efficient movement of goods, improve trade-data exchange and reduce barriers associated with cross-border transactions.

Tinubu said Nigeria’s experience with customs modernisation would contribute to the realisation of AfCFTA’s objectives, particularly the movement of goods across African borders.

“The promise of AfCFTA will be realised when goods can move across African borders faster, at lower cost and with fewer barriers.

“Nigeria is ready to contribute its experience, innovation and enterprise to that future,” the President added.