The African Continental Free Trade Area (AFTA) Secretariat has signed a 20-year concession agreement with the Nigerian company Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies to deploy a digital customs system in 50 African countries. This $3.1 billion project aims to harmonize customs procedures and facilitate trade on the continent.

The agreement, concluded in Abuja, provides for Bergmans to finance and deploy the FTACAF Customs Modernization Project through its subsidiary AfriTrade CMP Ltd.

The system is intended to digitize customs procedures, standardize cross-border formalities and ensure real-time tracking of goods between participating States.

The aim is to reduce delays at borders, limit the loss of public revenue from fraud and improve the flow of goods within the African Single Market.

According to the FTAA Secretariat, 50 African Union member States ratified the continental free trade agreement and intra-African trade reached $220 billion in 2024, up 12.5 per cent year-on-year.

The Customs Modernization Project is expected to contribute to the goal of doubling intra-African trade by 2035 through harmonization of procedures, better collection of customs data and traceability of cargoes.

The deployment will include non-intrusive inspection systems, integrated data centres and multilingual customs platforms.

The Secretary General of the FTACAF, Wamkele Mene, said that Bergmans' choice is based on the company's experience in the Nigerian customs modernization programme.

According to him, this reform contributed to a 90.4 per cent increase in Nigeria's customs revenues. While the project is presented as a continental trade facilitation lever, several modalities remain to be specified, including the conditions for financing the concession, the mechanisms for the repayment of investment, the effective participation of States and the rules for the governance of customs data to be processed by the future platform.