Nigeria’s domestically developed customs management system has been chosen as the technological backbone for a major continental trade facilitation project, a decision that President Bola Tinubu says validates the country’s capacity to lead Africa’s economic integration agenda.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat has selected a Nigerian-owned firm to implement a 20-year, multi-billion-dollar customs modernisation project across participating African countries. The project will be executed through AfriTrade CMP Limited, a subsidiary of Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited, according to a statement from Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
From Local Reform to Continental Blueprint
The selection follows a visit by AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene to the Nigeria Customs Service headquarters in Abuja, where he inspected the country’s customs modernisation programme. Mene described B’Odogwu, Nigeria’s indigenous Unified Customs Management System, as a model for Africa. He noted that non-African companies had also submitted offers for the project, but the secretariat deliberately chose an African solution, underscoring the importance of continental innovation.
The decision places Nigeria’s customs technology at the centre of a broader effort to digitise border management and dismantle the administrative and technological bottlenecks that have long constrained intra-African trade. The project will deploy both digital and physical infrastructure aimed at improving customs processes, cargo tracking, border management, and trade data exchange across participating countries.
Presidential Endorsement and Policy Alignment
Reacting to the development, President Tinubu framed the recognition as proof that solutions developed and tested in Nigeria can now serve the wider African market. He linked the achievement directly to his administration’s Nigeria First policy, which he said would continue to create opportunities for capable Nigerian businesses to compete at home, across Africa, and globally.
“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,” Tinubu said.
He added that Nigeria must not merely participate in Africa’s single market but should also help build the technology and infrastructure that will make that market function effectively.
Key Players and Domestic Backing
Another Bergmans subsidiary, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, is already implementing Nigeria’s homegrown customs modernisation programme. 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 whose work contributed to the system’s development.
Members of the Senate Committee on Customs, led by Senator Jibrin Isah, also participated in the visit after concluding a two-day retreat on customs modernisation and reforms. After observing the systems in operation, Isah said committee members had become ambassadors of the modernisation programme.
Technical Foundations and Integration
B’Odogwu was first piloted in October 2024 and has since become central to Nigeria’s customs reform agenda. The programme encompasses cargo tracking, data infrastructure, surveillance, risk management, and non-intrusive inspection technologies.
The system is also being integrated with the National Single Window, launched in March 2026 to provide a single digital gateway for cross-border trade processes. This integration is expected to facilitate the exchange of trade information and improve the efficiency of customs and other border-related procedures.
Strategic Significance for Nigeria and Africa
For Nigeria, the AfCFTA project represents more than an international contract. It offers an opportunity for locally developed technology and expertise, honed through the country’s customs reform programme, to be deployed beyond national borders and potentially replicated across other African markets.
President Tinubu said the ultimate measure of AfCFTA’s success will be its ability to make the movement of goods across national borders faster, cheaper, and less cumbersome. “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,” he said.
The development reinforces the potential of African institutions and businesses to devise solutions to the continent’s challenges, while reaffirming Nigeria’s readiness to provide leadership in the transformation of Africa’s trade infrastructure.