Customs To Host Two Major Conferences In Abuja To Boost Border Security, African Trade
With fragmented border procedures, security threats and disconnected digital systems continuing to hamper trade across Africa, the Nigeria Customs Service is bringing national and continental stakeholders together in Abuja to push for smarter border management, stronger security cooperation and seamless trade across the continent.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) will host two major conferences in December 2026, bringing together Customs administrations, security agencies, policymakers, trade experts and private-sector stakeholders to strengthen border security and accelerate African economic integration.
The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) Conference will hold from December 7 to 8, followed by the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) 2026 Conference from December 9 to 11, both in Abuja.
According to the Service, the conferences are designed to strengthen ongoing reforms, improve trade facilitation, enhance inter-agency collaboration and advance regional economic integration through modern Customs administration and interconnected border systems.
The CGC Conference, themed “Securing Borders, Enabling Trade: A Customs Commitment to Safer Communities,” will focus on the relationship between effective border management, national security and the smooth movement of legitimate trade.
It will also provide an opportunity to assess the Service’s modernisation initiatives, review commitments made in 2025 and evaluate progress recorded in 2026.
Discussions will centre on digital Customs operations, trusted trade corridors, seamless payments, intelligence-led enforcement and stronger partnerships between Customs and other institutions responsible for securing Nigeria’s borders.
The conference will feature presentations on Customs modernisation, the presentation of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) certificates and discussions on how ongoing reforms are affecting trade and revenue performance.
Under its sub-themes, “Enabling African Trade: Digital Customs, Trusted Corridors and Seamless Payments” and “Secure Borders, Safer Communities: Intelligence, Partnership and Trust at the Frontline,” participants will examine ways to make Customs processes more efficient while strengthening enforcement against emerging threats.
A key component of the discussions will be the role of digital transformation and stakeholder collaboration in improving operational efficiency and creating a more predictable trading environment.
Stakeholders expected to contribute to these discussions include AEO beneficiaries, the National Single Window Secretariat, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), excise-sector representatives and other relevant institutions.
The second day of the CGC Conference will focus on coordinated responses to border threats, bringing together key security and enforcement agencies, including the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the NCS, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
The engagement is expected to strengthen information sharing and institutional cooperation in addressing security challenges that increasingly intersect with trade and cross-border movements.
Building on the national discussions, C-PACT 2026 will extend the conversation to the continental level, with a focus on improving cooperation among African Customs administrations and making cross-border trade less cumbersome.
The conference, themed “One Border, Interconnected Systems: Advancing Customs Cooperation through One-Stop Border Posts,” will bring together Customs authorities, policymakers, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Regional Economic Communities, border management agencies, development partners, technology providers and private-sector representatives.
The gathering will address persistent obstacles to intra-African trade, including duplicated border controls, fragmented procedures, weak information exchange, incompatible digital platforms and inadequate coordination among agencies operating at border crossings.
These challenges can increase the time and cost of moving goods across borders, making it more difficult for businesses to compete and limiting the benefits of regional trade agreements.
C-PACT 2026 will therefore explore how One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs), supported by interconnected Customs systems, harmonised procedures, coordinated risk management and secure information exchange, can reduce delays and improve the movement of goods along African trade corridors.
The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, strategic discussions among Customs administrations, technical sessions on connected borders, technology demonstrations and presentations on operational experiences from existing and emerging One-Stop Border Posts.
Participants will also examine public-private partnerships as a means of financing and delivering modern border infrastructure.
Particular attention will be given to implementing key AfCFTA initiatives, including the AfCFTA Integrated Transit System, the Single Bond Guarantee Scheme and the Electronic Certificate of Origin system.
These initiatives are expected to support more coordinated transit procedures, reduce administrative bottlenecks and strengthen the systems needed to facilitate trade across African markets.
The organisers expect the continental conference to produce practical recommendations, identify priority technology and investment opportunities, strengthen institutional partnerships and develop an implementation-oriented roadmap for interconnected, digitally enabled border systems.
For African businesses, improved border coordination and digital connectivity could help reduce transaction costs, improve delivery timelines and make cross-border trade more predictable. For Customs administrations, the approach offers opportunities to strengthen risk management, improve compliance and deploy resources more effectively.
The Nigeria Customs Service, under the leadership of Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the two conferences reflect its commitment to working with national institutions, regional partners and international stakeholders to secure borders, facilitate legitimate trade and advance Africa’s economic integration agenda.
By combining discussions on national security and Customs modernisation with continental cooperation on interconnected border systems, the Service aims to reinforce accountability for ongoing reforms while promoting practical solutions to Africa’s trade and security challenges.
The outcomes of the conferences are expected to contribute to more efficient Customs operations, stronger regional cooperation and the broader AfCFTA objective of building an integrated, competitive and prosperous African market.
The announcement was contained in a statement issued on October 25, 2026, by Abdullahi Maiwada, Deputy Comptroller of Customs and National Public Relations Officer, on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Customs.
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