President Bola Tinubu has welcomed the growing continental recognition of Nigeria’s Customs modernisation programme, describing the development as a major endorsement of Nigeria’s ability to create homegrown solutions for Africa’s expanding trade ambitions. The President also praised the selection of AfriTrade CMP Limited, a subsidiary of Nigerian-owned Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited, to implement a 20-year, multi-billion-dollar AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project.
According to a statement by Nigeria Customs Service spokesman Abdullahi Maiwada, Tinubu’s commendation was contained in a State House release issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. The continental project is expected to deploy digital and physical infrastructure aimed at improving customs operations, cargo tracking, border management and trade-data exchange across participating African countries.
The President said the development was particularly significant because another subsidiary of Bergmans, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, is already implementing Nigeria’s homegrown Customs modernisation programme. Tinubu said the Nigerian experience demonstrates that local expertise can produce systems capable of supporting not only domestic trade but also the wider African market. He described the development as a reflection of the government’s “Nigeria First” policy, which seeks to create more opportunities for capable Nigerian businesses to compete locally, across Africa and globally.
The endorsement gained further attention during a visit by AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene to the Nigeria Customs Service headquarters in Abuja. Mene inspected the Trade Modernisation Project and described B’Odogwu, Nigeria’s indigenous Unified Customs Management System, as a model with potential for adoption across Africa. He noted that while non-African companies had offered similar solutions, AfCFTA had opted for an African-developed solution, highlighting the growing role of African innovation in shaping the continent’s trade infrastructure.
B’Odogwu, first piloted in October 2024, has become a key part of Nigeria’s Customs modernisation efforts, supporting digital customs processes, cargo tracking, data infrastructure, surveillance, risk management and non-intrusive inspection. The programme is also being integrated with the National Single Window, launched in March 2026 to provide a unified digital gateway for cross-border trade. For Nigeria, the growing continental interest in its Customs technology could represent more than an administrative milestone—it could signal a new opportunity for Nigerian expertise and businesses to play a bigger role in building Africa’s single market.
source: punch
