By Okey IBEKE
For decades, Nigeria’s quest for economic diversification has followed a familiar cycle of policy pronouncements that have fallen short of tangible results. Successive administrations have promised to reduce dependence on crude oil by expanding manufacturing, promoting agriculture and developing non-oil exports. Yet every downturn in global oil prices has exposed the same structural weaknesses in the economy as limited export capacity, high production costs, inadequate infrastructure, inefficient logistics and persistent pressure on foreign exchange continued.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is working to break that cycle by placing industrialisation, investment, trade expansion and economic competitiveness at the centre of national policy. While public attention has understandably focused on fiscal reforms, taxation, exchange rate adjustments and infrastructure, an important institutional transformation is taking place within one of the most strategic government agencies. That agency is the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The Service, under Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has redefined its traditional responsibilities as a revenue collection and border enforcement institution to embrace a broader developmental role in trade facilitation, economic competitiveness, international trade integration and diplomacy, corporate social responsibility and youth development.
This transformation is particularly relevant as Nigeria pushes to exploit more opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which provides access to a continental market of more than 1.4 billion people. The challenge, however, is not simply gaining access to that market. It is ensuring that Nigerian businesses can produce competitively, move their goods across borders efficiently and take advantage of the preferential trading arrangements created by AfCFTA. That is where modern customs administration becomes indispensable.
It was against this background that the Nigeria Customs Service convened the inaugural Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) Summit in Abuja in November 2025. As the Service prepares to host the second edition in December 2026, it is important to examine what the first summit was planned to achieve, the progress recorded since then and the expectations that should define the forthcoming gathering.
The important question is whether C-PACT is evolving into an effective instrument for removing barriers to African trade or merely becoming another platform for governments and institutions to repeat familiar declarations about regional integration.
Africa has never lacked declarations on regional integration. Governments have signed numerous treaties, protocols and agreements intended to stimulate intra-African trade, but implementation has consistently lagged behind political commitments.
The AfCFTA is perhaps the continent’s most ambitious attempt to correct that historical weakness. However, reducing tariffs alone cannot create an effective continental marketplace. Incompatible customs procedures, multiple checkpoints, inconsistent documentation requirements, inefficient border infrastructure and weak information-sharing arrangements continue to increase the cost of trading across African countries.
The inaugural C-PACT Summit, which confronted these practical obstacles, drew participation from nearly 30 African Customs administrations, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the African Union, Afreximbank, development partners and private-sector organisations. It provided a platform for discussing the institutional and operational requirements for making continental trade integration work.
The discussions covered customs interoperability, Rules of Origin, transit procedures, risk management, digital documentation, coordinated border management and the removal of non-tariff barriers. More importantly, participating administrations committed themselves to addressing multiple checkpoints and disparate transit fees, strengthening information exchange, promoting regional Authorised Economic Operator arrangements and developing mutual recognition frameworks.
These were important commitments because the effectiveness of AfCFTA will ultimately be determined not by the number of countries that have signed the agreement but by the ease with which goods can move between them.
For Nigeria, hosting the summit was also an assertion of its growing influence in international customs administration. Adeniyi’s emergence as Chairman of the WCO Policy Commission had already elevated the country’s profile within the global customs community. C-PACT provided an opportunity to translate that international recognition into leadership on African trade integration.
The summit therefore established an important institutional platform. But establishing a platform is not the same as delivering results. The real test was always going to be what participating countries did after returning home. Developments since the first summit suggest that some of the ideas discussed in Abuja have moved beyond promises and diplomatic commitments.
A particularly important example is the Nigeria-Benin customs data-exchange initiative at the Sèmè-Kraké border. Both countries had, in September, launched a pilot system designed to connect their customs administrations through electronic data exchange and coordinated border procedures. The initiative is intended to improve information sharing, reduce duplication of controls, strengthen verification and make cross-border transactions more predictable. This is precisely the kind of practical cooperation that the first C-PACT targeted.
For decades, traders moving goods between Nigeria and neighbouring countries have faced multiple administrative processes, inconsistent documentation requirements and delays arising from inadequate coordination among border agencies. The ability of two customs administrations to exchange information electronically and coordinate procedures represents an important departure from the traditional approach, in which each country operates largely independent systems.
Nigeria and Cameroon have also advanced discussions with Afreximbank on a regional border-modernisation programme covering the Mfum-Ekok corridors.
The proposed interventions extend beyond customs software to include cargo scanners, weighbridges, access roads, electricity, connectivity, traffic management and modern border-processing facilities.
This is important because digital customs systems cannot independently resolve physical infrastructure deficiencies. An efficient electronic declaration system will achieve limited results if trucks remain trapped in congested approaches to border posts or several government agencies continue to conduct uncoordinated inspections.
The emerging cooperation involving Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon and Afreximbank therefore offers an opportunity to connect digital reforms with investments in the physical infrastructure required for efficient cross-border trade.
These are tangible developments that the second C-PACT is expected to evaluate and build upon by advancing measures that could eventually translate into more funded projects, completed digital infrastructure, data exchange and continent-wide interoperability that would reduce cargo transit times.
Perhaps the most consequential aspect of the Nigeria Customs Service’s reform programme is the development and deployment of its Unified Customs Management System, B’Odogwu.
For years, Nigeria’s customs operations depended on legacy digital infrastructure that increasingly struggled to meet the demands of modern international commerce. B’Odogwu represents an attempt to replace that fragmented technological environment with a more integrated system for cargo processing, customs valuation, revenue collection, compliance management, intelligence gathering and post-clearance audit.
Modern customs administrations increasingly depend on the ability to analyse information, identify high-risk transactions, process compliant cargo quickly and exchange reliable data with other government agencies and international partners.
B’Odogwu has strengthened these capabilities while improving transparency and reducing opportunities for manual interference. The platform also provides an important foundation for Nigeria’s participation in emerging regional customs interoperability arrangements.
The Nigeria-Benin data-exchange pilot illustrates how national customs platforms can begin communicating through dedicated electronic mechanisms. But the ambition should extend beyond connecting two national systems. African Customs administrations must progressively develop common technical standards, secure data-sharing protocols and compatible procedures that allow preferential trade arrangements under AfCFTA to operate efficiently.
The second C-PACT Summit should therefore demand greater clarity on the technical and institutional requirements for achieving this objective.
The coming edition must now demonstrate what has changed. It should not become another gathering where participants celebrate the importance of AfCFTA, commend one another for their commitment to regional integration and issue another declaration without establishing how existing commitments have been implemented.
First, participating countries should account for progress in addressing multiple checkpoints, disparate transit fees and unnecessary border procedures. These practices continue to impose costs on traders and undermine the very principles of regional integration.
Second, the summit should examine progress towards harmonising customs procedures, transit documentation and the verification of Rules of Origin. Preferential tariffs are of limited value if exporters cannot easily establish the origin of their goods or obtain recognition of the relevant documentation across borders.
Third, it should assess progress towards regional Authorised Economic Operator arrangements and mutual recognition frameworks. Businesses with established compliance records should increasingly enjoy predictable and simplified treatment across participating jurisdictions.
Fourth, digital interoperability must move from ambition to implementation. Participating administrations should identify the countries ready to connect their systems, agree on common technical standards and establish realistic timelines for electronic data exchange.
Fifth, the summit should review the implementation of coordinated border management arrangements and the financing of critical border infrastructure. These determine whether a manufacturer in Nigeria can deliver goods to a customer in Ghana, Cameroon or Côte d’Ivoire at a competitive cost and within a predictable timeframe.
The private sector must also have a stronger role in the process. Manufacturers, exporters, freight forwarders, shipping companies, transport operators, customs agents and financial institutions experience the consequences of inefficient border procedures more directly than most policymakers. Their experiences should inform the decisions taken at the conference.
For Nigeria, the second C-PACT also presents an opportunity to demonstrate that the reforms it advocates for the continent are being implemented at home.
The country cannot credibly demand efficient customs administration from its neighbours while its own exporters continue to contend with avoidable delays, congested ports, inconsistent procedures and expensive logistics.
Customs modernisation must therefore be accompanied by broader reforms involving the Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NIMASA, transport authorities, relevant security agencies and other institutions responsible for the movement of goods.
The National Single Window initiative, improved port infrastructure, more efficient cargo evacuation and coordinated border management should complement the progress made within Customs. There must also be greater attention to the persistent challenges confronting exporters, including shipping capacity, container availability, port access roads and the cost of inland transportation.
The reported increase in export activity at Nigerian ports is encouraging, but sustained growth will require corresponding improvements in maritime and inland logistics. The government must ensure that the gains from customs reforms are not neutralised by inefficiencies elsewhere in the trade chain.
That is why C-PACT should encourage a wider conversation about the relationship between customs administration, port efficiency, industrial production and national export policy.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to appoint Adewale Adeniyi as Comptroller-General was an important leadership choice in an institution requiring operational experience, administrative competence and a deeper understanding of international trade.
The value of that appointment is evident in the direction the Service has taken since he assumed its leadership. From the development of B’Odogwu and the strengthening of intelligence-led enforcement to the expansion of international customs cooperation, improved revenue administration and the establishment of C-PACT, the Service has demonstrated an institutional ambition that extends beyond its traditional responsibilities.
Adeniyi’s emergence and continued leadership as Chairman of the WCO Policy Commission, alongside Nigeria’s growing engagement with international customs administrations, reflect a level of institutional influence that can be translated into practical economic advantages. These achievements provide a compelling illustration of how the quality of leadership appointments can influence the performance of public institutions.
Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda requires more than policy declarations. It requires competent people capable of translating presidential priorities into institutional programmes, measurable outcomes and sustainable reforms. The Customs experience offers an example of that relationship.
However, the ultimate test of Adeniyi’s leadership will not be the number of conferences hosted, international positions occupied or milestones reached. It will be whether the reforms he initiated and diligently implemented will survive changes in leadership and deliver lasting improvements to Nigeria’s economy and trading environment. This should be a major concern to the President, considering the looming leadership gap in the Service.
Nigeria stands at an important point in its economic transformation. The country cannot continue to depend excessively on crude oil while its enormous agricultural, manufacturing and mineral resources remain insufficiently exploited for international trade. AfCFTA provides an opportunity to change that trajectory, but opportunities do not automatically translate into economic benefits.
This requires efficient institutions, competitive production, modern infrastructure, predictable policies and the ability to move goods across borders without unnecessary delays and costs.
The Nigeria Customs Service is making important contributions to that process through its digital transformation, revenue reforms, international partnerships, border-security operations and growing emphasis on export facilitation.
The inaugural C-PACT Summit provides the continental platform for advancing these objectives. The emerging Nigeria-Benin data-exchange arrangement and regional border-modernisation discussions involving Cameroon and Afreximbank indicate that some of the ideas advanced at the first summit are moving towards practical implementation. But these developments must be consolidated, expanded and subjected to measurable evaluation.
Ultimately, C-PACT should be judged by whether it helps Nigerian and African businesses move goods more quickly, trade at lower costs, access wider markets and compete more effectively in the global economy. That is the larger significance of the initiative and the institutional transformation taking place within the Nigeria Customs Service.
If sustained, these reforms could become one of the more enduring contributions of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to Nigeria’s economic diversification.
More importantly, they would demonstrate that the appointment of competent leadership, combined with a clear institutional vision and consistent policy support, can transform a government agency into an instrument of national economic development.
