President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended the growing continental recognition of Nigeria’s Customs modernisation programme following the selection of a subsidiary of Nigerian-owned Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited to implement a 20-year, multi-billion-dollar African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Customs Modernisation Project.
The President said the development validates Nigeria’s growing capacity to develop homegrown technology and infrastructure capable of serving the wider African market.
Tinubu’s commendation was contained in a statement issued on Monday, August 10, 2026, by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, following the selection of Bergmans’ subsidiary, AfriTrade CMP Limited, for the continental project.
The project is expected to deploy digital and physical infrastructure aimed at improving customs processes, cargo tracking, border management and trade-data exchange across participating African countries.
According to the President, the development is particularly significant because another subsidiary of the Nigerian firm, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, is already implementing Nigeria’s homegrown Customs modernisation programme through the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
He said the experience demonstrated the depth of Nigerian expertise now contributing to the future of customs administration and continental trade infrastructure.
Tinubu stated that solutions developed and tested in Nigeria were increasingly providing a model for other African countries, stressing that Nigerian institutions and businesses have the expertise and capacity to build systems capable of making Africa’s single market more efficient and competitive.
“What has been built and tested in Nigeria is now providing a model for the continent. This is how African integration should work: Africans building African solutions for African markets.
“Nigerian institutions and businesses can help build the technology and infrastructure that will make that market work. Under our Nigeria First policy, we will continue to create opportunities for capable Nigerian businesses to compete at home, across Africa and globally,” the President said.
He commended Bergmans, AfriTrade CMP Limited, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, and Nigerian professionals whose work, he said, had earned continental confidence.
The President further noted that the recognition of Nigeria’s Customs modernisation model reflected the progress being recorded in the transformation of the Service under Adeniyi’s leadership.
He stressed that the growing adoption of Nigerian-developed customs technologies and systems demonstrated the importance of sustained investment in digital transformation, institutional capacity and indigenous expertise.
The development received further endorsement during a visit by the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, to the NCS Headquarters in Abuja, where he inspected the Trade Modernisation Project in operation.
Mene visited the facility alongside members of the Senate Committee on Customs, led by Senator Jibrin Isah, following the conclusion of a two-day retreat on customs modernisation and reforms.
During the visit, the AfCFTA Secretary-General described B’Odogwu, Nigeria’s indigenous Unified Customs Management System, as a model with potential for wider adoption across Africa.
He disclosed that non-African companies had also offered similar solutions, but said the AfCFTA had opted for an African solution, underscoring the importance of African expertise, innovation and enterprise in shaping the continent’s trade architecture.
Senator Isah, after witnessing the systems in operation, expressed the committee’s support for the modernisation programme, saying members had become ambassadors of the initiative.
B’Odogwu, first piloted in October 2024, has become a central component of the Nigeria Customs modernisation programme, supporting the digitalisation of customs processes, cargo tracking, data infrastructure, surveillance, risk management and non-intrusive inspection capabilities.
The modernisation programme is also being integrated with the National Single Window, launched in March 2026 as a single digital gateway for cross-border trade processes.
The integration is expected to further strengthen Nigeria’s digital and institutional architecture for faster, more transparent and efficient trade while positioning Nigerian-developed customs solutions for broader continental application.
