During an Accra visit, Comptroller-General of The Nigeria Customs Service Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene aligned on data governance, coordination among Customs heads, and the Abuja C-PACT conference.
A Commitment to Closer AfCFTA Collaboration
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) reaffirmed its commitment to work more closely with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to enhance trade integration, improve data management, and address barriers to intra-African commerce. The pledge followed a courtesy visit by Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, to the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana.
Data Quality and Unified Coordination
Adeniyi said engagements with the Secretariat have set a “clear direction” for upcoming discussions, adding that Customs administrations should “take the front role in addressing the issue of deficiencies in our trade data across the continent.” He also called for reinforcing the AfCFTA’s structure that convenes all heads of Customs under one coordination framework to drive sustainable facilitation.
“We now have a clear direction in which we want to go during the meeting in Abuja on November 17,” he stated. “Most importantly, we have heard discussions centring around the fact that Customs needs to take the front role in addressing the issue of deficiencies in our trade data across the continent. The existing structure that brings together all heads of Customs under the AfCFTA must be reinforced.”
C-PACT Abuja, 17–19 November 2025
The partnership is paving the way for the Customs–Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) Conference, scheduled for 17–19 November 2025 in Abuja. The meeting is positioned as a platform to strengthen Customs collaboration and data-driven trade governance across the continent.
AfCFTA Secretariat’s Perspective
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene welcomed the Nigerian delegation, highlighting persistent obstacles to trade growth such as inadequate logistics infrastructure and weak inter-agency coordination. ”The Secretariat continues to engage stakeholders—particularly the private sector, Customs administrations, and trade ministries—to foster stronger institutional collaboration and sustainable trade facilitation,” he said.
Mene referenced an existing MoU with the World Customs Organization focused on private-sector inclusion and rolling out e-certificates of origin, and disclosed discussions on a proposed Single Bond Guarantee Scheme to improve cross-border efficiency.
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