Nigeria: AfCFTA Secretariat, Bergmans Sign MOU for Continental Customs Modernisation Project

4 August 2026
Leadership (Abuja)
By NSE Anthony-Uko

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited to implement what both parties are calling the AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project (ACMP).

The MoU was signed in Lagos on Saturday July 1, 2026, on the sidelines of the Digital Trade Forum, by AfCFTA secretary-general Wamkele Mene and Bergmans chairman Alhaji Saleh Ahmadu.

Bergmans stated that under the arrangement, structured as a Public-Private Partnership, the security company is expected to finance and deploy digital and physical customs infrastructure across AfCFTA member states, with the stated aim of harmonising customs processes and easing cross-border movement of goods.

Bergmans is the parent company of Trade Modernisation Project (TMP) Limited, which holds the concession for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Modernisation Project -- a Nigerian government initiative that the company cites as the basis for its selection for the continental project.

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According to the companies, the ACMP will include non-intrusive inspection technology, data centres, electronic cargo-tracking systems, and multilingual customs portals, along with investment in One-Stop-Border-Posts along regional trade corridors. No project cost, financing structure, or implementation timeline was disclosed.

The announcement cites Afreximbank figures putting intra-African trade at $210 billion in 2025, representing 18 per cent of the continent's total trade -- a gap the AfCFTA has long identified as a target for its trade-facilitation agenda.

Comptroller General of Customs, Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, stated at the signing ceremony that the ACMP will learn from the globally recognised successes of the Nigeria Customs Service Modernisation Project, to bring a new dawn to Customs harmonisation across the Continent, moving from policy to action.

It is a great day to be an African and greater day to be Nigerian.

The AfCFTA comprises 55 African Union member states and eight Regional Economic Communities, with a combined market of roughly 1.3 billion people and a GDP of about $3.4 trillion. Its secretariat is headquartered in Accra, Ghana.

Bergmans describes itself as a security-consulting and technology-solutions firm serving government and intelligence-related clients. The company's group managing director, Dr Jummai Umar-Ajijola, said at the signing that its approach relies on private-sector financing structured as PPP arrangements.

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