A New Chapter For African Trade: How AfCFTA And Bergmans Are Reimagining Customs For A Borderless Continent

By Abdul Gombe

Africa’s economic future will not be determined only by what it produces, but by how efficiently it moves those products across its borders.

For decades, the continent’s greatest paradox has been that while it possesses immense natural resources, a youthful population and one of the world’s fastest-growing consumer markets, African countries have traded more with distant continents than with one another. Inefficient border procedures, cumbersome customs processes, fragmented regulations and weak digital infrastructure have combined to make intra-African commerce slower and more expensive than it ought to be.

It is against this backdrop that the recent signing of a landmark Concession Agreement between the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited assumes continental significance.

Signed in Abuja by the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, and the Chairman of Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited, Alhaji Sale Ahmadu, OON, the Agreement provides the strategic framework for collaboration on the proposed AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project—an ambitious initiative aimed at transforming customs administrations into digitally connected, intelligence-driven institutions capable of supporting a truly integrated African market.

The timing could hardly be more appropriate.

Established by the African Union through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, signed in Kigali in March 2018 and operational for trading since January 1, 2021, the AfCFTA represents the largest free trade area in the world by the number of participating countries. Today, it brings together 54 African Union member states, creating a potential single market of approximately 1.4 billion people with a combined economic output estimated at over US$3.4 trillion. The World Bank projects that successful implementation could increase Africa’s exports significantly, boost regional income by about US$450 billion by 2035 and lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty.

Yet trade agreements alone do not move cargo.

Efficient customs systems do.

Modern trade depends upon digital documentation, secure exchange of customs information, coordinated border management, effective risk profiling, electronic transit systems and data-driven enforcement. Without these, businesses continue to face delays, higher logistics costs and unnecessary bureaucracy.

This explains why customs modernisation sits at the very heart of the AfCFTA implementation agenda.

Interestingly, the model that has attracted continental attention did not originate outside Africa.

It was developed in Nigeria.

Under the Nigeria Customs Service Trade Modernisation Project, delivered through a Public-Private Partnership by Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited, efforts have focused on replacing legacy customs procedures with integrated digital platforms designed to simplify trade documentation, automate processes, improve transparency, strengthen compliance, enhance revenue assurance and facilitate legitimate trade. The project has become one of Nigeria’s flagship customs reform initiatives, supporting the Service’s broader drive towards digital transformation and improved trade facilitation.

The Nigeria Customs Service has in recent years recorded successive increases in revenue collection while simultaneously pursuing reforms aimed at reducing cargo clearance times and improving the ease of doing business. Although several policy and institutional reforms have contributed to these achievements, digital modernisation has become one of the defining pillars of this progress.

It is therefore unsurprising that the AfCFTA Secretariat has looked to an African solution for a continental challenge.

Rather than importing an external template, the proposed partnership seeks to adapt proven African experience to the realities of African trade.

That carries symbolic and practical importance.

For too long, Africa has depended on imported governance models for its economic institutions. This initiative demonstrates growing confidence that African companies possess the expertise, innovation and technical capacity to build solutions for African problems.

The proposed collaboration extends beyond technology. It encompasses institutional capacity building, coordinated border management, secure electronic exchange of customs information, advanced risk management systems, data analytics and the simplification of customs procedures—all essential ingredients for reducing the cost of doing business across borders.

For manufacturers, exporters, transporters and investors, the implications are substantial. Faster border clearance means lower logistics costs. Predictable customs procedures improve supply-chain reliability. Greater transparency strengthens investor confidence. More efficient revenue collection enables governments to finance infrastructure and public services without creating unnecessary barriers to legitimate commerce.

Ultimately, this Agreement is about more than customs administration.

It is about unlocking Africa’s economic potential.

The AfCFTA was conceived to transform 54 national markets into one competitive African marketplace where businesses can expand beyond national borders, industries can build continental value chains, and young entrepreneurs can compete globally from an African production base.

That vision cannot become reality without modern borders.

–Abdul Gombe is an Advisory Board Member at Leadership Newspaper Group and can be reached  at [email protected]