President Tinubu Applauds AfCFTA Adoption of Nigeria’s Customs Modernisation Model

…Commends Bergmans as Nigerian Firm Secures Multi-Billion-Dollar Continental Project

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has welcomed the African Continental Free Trade Area’s (AfCFTA) recognition of Nigeria’s Customs modernisation model and the selection of AfriTrade CMP Limited — a subsidiary of Nigerian-owned Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited — to implement the 20-year, multi-billion-dollar AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project.

In a statement issued on Monday, August 10, 2026, by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President described the development as a validation of Nigeria’s growing capacity to deliver homegrown solutions for Africa’s single market.

The AfCFTA project will deploy digital and physical infrastructure to enhance customs processes, cargo tracking, border management, and trade-data exchange across participating countries. Notably, Bergmans’ other subsidiary, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, is already driving Nigeria’s domestic customs digitalisation programme through the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

President Tinubu emphasised that Nigeria’s innovations are now serving as a continental model:

“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 the African market.”

He commended Bergmans, AfriTrade CMP Limited, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, the NCS, Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and Nigerian professionals whose work has earned continental confidence.

The President further noted that the recognition reflects the transformation of the NCS under Adeniyi’s leadership, highlighting the value of sustained investment in digital transformation and indigenous expertise.

During a recent visit to NCS Headquarters in Abuja, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene inspected the Trade Modernisation Project and praised “B’Odogwu” — Nigeria’s Unified Customs Management System piloted in 2024 — as a potential model for wider adoption across Africa. He stressed that AfCFTA’s choice of an African-developed solution over non-African alternatives underscores the importance of African innovation in building the continent’s trade architecture.

Senator Jibrin Isah, leading the Senate Committee on Customs, also pledged support, describing members as “ambassadors of the modernisation programme” after witnessing its operations.

The modernisation initiative, integrated with Nigeria’s National Single Window launched in March 2026, now anchors a digital gateway for cross-border trade, strengthening transparency, efficiency, and competitiveness across Africa’s emerging single market.