The secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has signed a 20-year concession agreement worth $3.1 billion to deploy a continent-wide customs modernisation system, in a move designed to accelerate intra-African trade and plug chronic revenue leakages.
The agreement was signed on Thursday in Abuja with Nigerian firm Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Ltd. Under the deal, Bergmans will finance and execute the project across the 50 African countries that have already ratified the AfCFTA protocol, the African Union's customs authority announced.
The system will enable the digitalisation of customs processes, the harmonisation of cross-border procedures, and real-time tracking of the movement of goods between countries across the continent.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said that existing manual customs systems create fertile conditions for corruption, under-invoicing, over-invoicing and significant losses of fiscal revenue.
Mene noted that intra-African trade reached $220 billion in 2024, representing growth of 12.5 per cent year-on-year, underlining the scale of the opportunity that streamlined customs administration could unlock.
He emphasised that customs modernisation is one of the central pillars of the AfCFTA's strategy to double intra-African trade by 2035, to be achieved through simplified border procedures, greater transparency and improved efficiency in the movement of goods.
The initiative also envisages the standardisation of customs procedures, improved data collection and electronic cargo monitoring — measures expected to cut border delays and facilitate trade across African markets.
Project implementation will be carried out by AfriTrade CMP Ltd, a subsidiary of Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Ltd, which will draw on experience gained through Nigeria's own customs modernisation programme.
According to Mene, that Nigerian programme contributed to a 90.4 per cent increase in customs revenues, demonstrating the potential of digitalised customs services to strengthen fiscal receipts and advance African economic integration.
Source: ANGOP / Original article: https://www.angop.ao/noticias/africa/afcfta-concede-usd-3-1-mil-milhoes-para-modernizar-alfandegas-africanas/
