The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have strengthened their partnership to enhance trade facilitation, improve customs cooperation, and accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The partnership was reaffirmed during a working visit by the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Dr. George Elombi, to the Comptroller-General of Customs, CGC Adewale Adeniyi, at the Service Headquarters in Abuja on July 3, 2026.
The engagement provided both institutions with an opportunity to review the progress of their collaboration and identify new areas of cooperation to promote seamless cross-border trade and regional economic integration.
Welcoming the Afreximbank delegation, CGC Adeniyi described the partnership as one built on a shared vision of unlocking Africa’s economic potential through stronger intra-African trade.
He noted that the collaboration has continued to yield tangible results in customs modernisation and trade facilitation, particularly through initiatives designed to harmonise customs procedures and improve the movement of goods across the continent.
“We are building a partnership between the two sides, a partnership founded on a single conviction: that Africa’s best trading partners are within Africa itself, and our prosperity will be built on the trade we conduct within ourselves. From C-PACT to our ongoing work on trade facilitation, we are turning that conviction into practical cooperation,” he said.
Adeniyi also disclosed that the partnership would support Afreximbank’s regional transit initiatives, accelerate the development of one-stop border posts along key trade corridors, and promote the adoption of global best practices to strengthen customs administration.
He added that the Service was already recording positive outcomes from the Bank’s support for regional transit systems and expressed confidence that the collaboration would further boost Africa’s competitiveness and expand opportunities for legitimate trade.
On his part, the President of Afreximbank, Dr. George Elombi, commended the NCS for its proactive leadership, describing the Service’s approach as a demonstration of its strong institutional commitment to transforming trade across the continent.
“It is nice to see the CGC taking the initiative to drive this kind of engagement, which demonstrates a clear commitment to transforming trade across the continent. We have the resources, and you have the will. Together, we can make this partnership work for Africa,” Elombi said.
He reaffirmed the Bank’s readiness to expand its support for initiatives that facilitate trade and strengthen the implementation of the AfCFTA.
The meeting also reviewed the successful collaboration between both institutions on the maiden edition of the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT), held in Abuja in November 2025, which brought together customs administrations, development partners, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise customs procedures, strengthen institutional capacity, and improve connectivity across Africa’s trading systems.
