The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has signed a 20-year, $3.1 billion concession agreement with Nigeria’s Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Ltd to introduce a continent-wide customs system across 50 member countries. The project aims to increase intra-African trade and reduce revenue losses.
The agreement, signed in Abuja, gives Bergmans responsibility for funding and deploying the AfCFTA customs modernisation project. The system will digitise customs processes, standardise cross-border procedures and enable real-time tracking of goods across Africa.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said the continued use of manual customs systems contributes to corruption, revenue losses, under-invoicing and over-invoicing.
Mene said 50 African Union member states have ratified the AfCFTA agreement, while intra-African trade reached $220 billion in 2024, representing a 12.5% increase from the previous year.
The customs modernisation project will support AfCFTA’s goal of doubling intra-African trade by 2035 by harmonising customs procedures, improving data collection and enabling real-time cargo tracking.
Bergmans said it will implement the project through its subsidiary, AfriTrade CMP Ltd, drawing on its experience with Nigeria’s customs modernisation project. Mene said that project helped increase customs revenue by 90.4%.
source: www.cnbcafrica.com
