African Customs Bodies Pledge Stronger Cooperation Against Non-Tariff Barriers
The Nigeria Customs Service has concluded a three-day engagement, tagged the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) Summit, on 19 November 2025 in Abuja. The summit brought together Customs chiefs, policy experts, and private-sector players from across the continent to advance the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The closing ceremony, held at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton, marked the end of a series of technical sessions and high-level discussions hosted by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, and coordinated deliberations throughout the summit.
Speaking at the event, CGC Adeniyi said the summit had provided Africa with “a credible platform to move from fragmented efforts to collective solutions,” stressing that the resolutions reached would guide Customs administrations in strengthening border procedures, improving compliance systems and reducing the longstanding non-tariff barriers that slow cross-border trade.
He noted that the C-PACT initiative, which Nigeria proposed and championed, will now serve as “a working mechanism for African Customs administrations to engage regularly, share operational experiences and harmonise processes in support of AfCFTA.”
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It will be recalled that Vice President Kashim Shettima, representing President Bola Tinubu, had urged African countries to dismantle structural barriers to trade and adopt a continent-wide framework that supports competitiveness, industrial growth, and stable cross-border commerce.
Similarly, the Secretary-General of the World Customs Organisation, Ian Saunders, had reminded participants that Customs authorities remain central to the success of AfCFTA because they “connect borders, enforce standards and determine the practical realities of trade.”
Meanwhile, the Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Kanayo Awani, also stressed at the summit’s opening that without modernised and interoperable Customs systems, AfCFTA’s economic benefits would remain out of reach.
During the closing session, participating administrations expressed satisfaction with the depth of conversations held, particularly on rules of origin, transit regimes, risk management, digital documentation, gender inclusion and coordinated border management.
Delegates also agreed that the C-PACT platform should continue as a technical body for reviewing progress and aligning national systems with emerging continental standards.
Private-sector actors, including freight operators, manufacturers, logistics firms, port administrators and exporters, also made contributions during the summit, drawing attention to delays, inconsistent procedures and documentation hurdles that continue to discourage intra-African trade.
On his part, the National President of the Association of Licensed Customs Agents, Emenike Kingsley, stated that the summit provided the first opportunity in years for Customs managers and economic operators to jointly examine operational constraints.
