On Tuesday, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) announced its intention to increase intra-African trade, improve data accuracy, and address structural obstacles to regional integration by strengthening cooperation with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.
Adewale Adeniyi, the head of the NCS, made the disclosure during a courtesy visit to the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana, where he met with senior officials to discuss ways to improve Customs efficiency and advance the AfCFTA Agreement’s objectives.
He praised the Secretariat for continuing to engage key stakeholders, including development partners, private sector players, and Customs administrations, to promote Africa’s growth.
The upcoming Customs-Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) Conference, scheduled for November 17 to 19, 2025, was reportedly the result of an existing partnership between both institutions, according to Adeniyi.
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The AfCFTA Secretariat has played a key role in coordinating trade between Africa’s countries. We held a number of meetings in addition to reviewing the Secretariat’s concept note. He claimed that the Abuja conference has now a clear course of action.
One of the main outcomes of the collaboration, in his opinion, was the consensus that customs administrations should take the lead in resolving the persistent gaps in trade data across the continent.
CGC Adeniyi Reaffirms its commitment to supporting AfCFTA to promote stronger intra-African trade.
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Adewale Adeniyi, the country’s Comptroller-General of Customs, has reiterated the country’s commitment to… twitter.com/tgPU718iJ6
Adeniyi emphasized the need to strengthen the framework, which brings together all en-trained Customs officials under one roof, created by the AfCFTA Secretariat.
He claimed that the framework would ensure consistency and coordination in customs policies and trade facilitation once it had been institutionalized through the Customs Pact.
“Customs must take the lead in fixing trade data gaps. Working closely with my counterparts across Africa, I’ve accepted this challenge as a challenge to champion,” the Comptroller-General said.
“It is necessary to strengthen the structure that all Customs heads are bound by AfCFTA. The Secretariat’s system will effectively support sustainable trade cooperation once the Customs Pact is institutionalized.
He added that the main obstacles to Africa’s trade expansion are weak data integration, fragmented policies, and poor inter-agency collaboration.
He expressed confidence that the C-PACT Conference would establish a new standard for global customs collaboration and data-driven decision-making.
Adeniyi and his delegation were welcomed by the AfCFTA’s Secretary-General Wamkele Mene, who thanked the Nigeria Customs Service for its leadership in promoting regional cooperation.
Source: Channels TV
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