By Joy Enamuma
The Nigeria Customs Service has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening regional trade and coordinated border management following a joint benchmarking mission to the Beitbridge Border Post between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The five-day exercise brought together the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, his counterparts from Benin and Cameroon, officials of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, and other stakeholders to understudy the operational model of one of Africa’s busiest border posts.
The mission, supported by the African Export-Import Bank under the African Continental Free Trade Area framework, focused on improving border efficiency, trade facilitation and regional economic integration.
Speaking at the adoption of a joint communiqué on Monday, Adeniyi said the visit provided valuable insights into modern border administration and underscored the need for African customs agencies to move beyond policy discussions to practical reforms.
According to him, the success recorded at the Beitbridge and Chirundu border posts demonstrates that effective border management depends on strong institutional coordination, digital integration, accountability and skilled personnel rather than infrastructure alone.
“The most important lesson is that sustainable border reform requires coordinated institutions, digital interoperability, clear accountability and professional human capacity. These are lessons we intend to apply in strengthening trade, security and economic growth across our region,” Adeniyi said.
During the exercise, delegates participated in technical sessions, executive briefings and facility inspections covering cargo processing centres, freight terminals, scanning operations, traffic management systems and integrated information technology infrastructure.
The participating customs administrations noted in the communiqué that the Sèmè-Kraké border corridor linking Nigeria and the Benin Republic, as well as the Mfum-Ekok corridor connecting Nigeria and Cameroon, could benefit significantly from coordinated border management and the implementation of One-Stop Border Posts.
The Director-General of Cameroon Customs, Fongod Nuvaga, stressed that stronger collaboration among customs authorities would eliminate unnecessary trade bottlenecks while maintaining effective border security.
Similarly, the Director-General of Benin Customs, Col. Raouf Malèhossou Aboudou, said harmonised procedures, coordinated risk management and stronger institutional partnerships would improve trade movement and revenue collection across West Africa.
Also speaking, Afreximbank’s Director for Trade Facilitation and Investment Promotion, Dr. Gainmore Zanamwe, said the benchmarking mission was designed to expose participating countries to governance structures and operational models that have made modern border posts more efficient.
He noted that technology, accountability, coordination and measurable service standards remain critical to achieving efficient border operations across the continent.
The exercise ended with the signing of a joint communiqué committing Nigeria, Benin and Cameroon to establish a Trilateral Strategic Steering Committee to implement the recommendations from the mission.
The three customs administrations also pledged to harmonise border procedures, strengthen digital connectivity, improve coordinated risk management and invest in capacity building as part of efforts to boost intra-African trade under the AfCFTA.
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