The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced that it will host the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) Conference from December 7 to 8, 2026, and the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) 2026 Conference from December 9 to 11, 2026, in Abuja.
The National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Deputy Comptroller of Customs Abdullahi Maiwada, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, noting that the conferences form part of the Service’s commitment to strengthening border security, facilitating legitimate trade, and advancing regional economic integration.
The CGC Conference, themed “Securing Borders, Enabling Trade: A Customs Commitment to Safer Communities,” will provide a platform to review the Service’s modernisation efforts, assess progress against previous commitments, and reinforce the relationship between effective Customs administration, national security, and trade facilitation.
C-PACT 2026, themed “One Border, Interconnected Systems: Advancing Customs Cooperation through One-Stop Border Posts,” will extend these discussions to the continental level, focusing on practical approaches to coordinated border management and digital connectivity across Africa.
DC Maiwada stated that the CGC Conference will bring together relevant government officials, Customs leadership, trade stakeholders, and institutional partners to examine the Service’s progress in implementing modernisation and trade facilitation reforms.
Under the sub-themes: “Enabling African Trade: Digital Customs, Trusted Corridors and Seamless Payments” and “Secure Borders, Safer Communities: Intelligence, Partnership and Trust at the Frontline,” the programme will also review commitments made in 2025 and results achieved in 2026, as well as feature presentations on Customs modernisation, Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) certificate presentation, and discussions on measuring the impact of reforms on trade and revenue.
The conference will examine intelligence-led enforcement, emerging border threats, inter-agency collaboration, and officers’ professional responsibilities in protecting communities and maintaining public trust.
According to Maiwada, a major component of the CGC Conference will be the examination of how digital transformation and stakeholder partnerships are improving Customs operations.
Discussions will give stakeholders, including AEO beneficiaries, the National Single Window Secretariat, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), excise-sector representatives, and other relevant institutions, an opportunity to assess reform outcomes and identify areas for further improvement.
The second day of the conference will focus on coordinated responses to converging border threats, bringing together relevant security and enforcement institutions, including the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the NCS, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Building on the national conference, C-PACT 2026 will provide a continental platform for Customs administrations, policymakers, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Regional Economic Communities, border management agencies, development partners, technology providers and private-sector stakeholders to advance cooperation in African trade.
The conference will address persistent challenges affecting cross-border trade, including fragmented procedures, duplicated controls, limited information exchange, incompatible digital systems, and insufficient coordination among border agencies. It will explore how One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs), supported by interconnected Customs platforms, coordinated risk management, harmonised procedures and secure information exchange, can reduce delays, lower trade costs, and improve the predictability of goods movement across African trade corridors.
The C-PACT 2026 programme will feature high-level policy dialogue, strategic discussions among Customs administrations, technical sessions on connected borders, presentations of operational experiences from existing and emerging OSBPs, technology demonstrations and discussions on public-private partnerships for financing and delivering modern border infrastructure. The conference will focus on implementing relevant AfCFTA initiatives, including the AfCFTA Integrated Transit System, the Single Bond Guarantee Scheme, and the Electronic Certificate of Origin system.
The conference is expected to generate practical recommendations, identify priority technology and investment opportunities, strengthen institutional partnerships, and develop an implementation-oriented roadmap to advance interconnected, digitally enabled border systems across the continent.
The NCS, under the leadership of CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and its management members, reiterated its commitment to strengthening collaboration with national institutions, regional partners and international stakeholders to secure borders, facilitate legitimate trade, and support Africa’s economic integration agenda.
Through the CGC Conference and C-PACT 2026, the Service seeks to reinforce accountability for ongoing reforms while advancing practical solutions that connect border security with trade facilitation, technological innovation, and safer communities.
The outcomes of both conferences are expected to improve Customs operations, strengthen regional cooperation, and advance the AfCFTA’s objectives of building a more integrated, competitive, and prosperous African market.
