The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, has thrown his weight behind the digital transformation of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), calling for the replication of its home-grown technology across African countries.
Mene made the call on Thursday, August 6, 2026, during a working visit to the NCS Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja, where he described the Service’s technology-driven reforms as a home-grown African solution to some of the continent’s most persistent trade and revenue challenges.
The AfCFTA chief said Nigeria’s Customs digital innovations had demonstrated that African countries could develop and manage sophisticated systems tailored to their own economic realities, rather than depending entirely on imported solutions.
He noted that several African countries still operate largely manual customs processes, which contribute to revenue leakages, prolonged delays at borders and weak intra-African trade.
Mene said the technological transformation being implemented by the NCS could provide a model for overcoming such challenges across the continent.
“What we have seen today is truly state-of-the-art. I sincerely congratulate the NCS for what it has achieved within such a short period,” he said.
“We would like to work together and learn from what Nigeria has accomplished because this innovation has inherent benefits not only for Nigeria, but for the entire African continent.”
The AfCFTA Secretary-General also described the NCS data centre as a strategic continental asset, particularly for African countries that may lack the financial and technical capacity to establish similar infrastructure.
According to him, the facility is evidence of Africa’s growing ability to develop, operate and control critical digital infrastructure needed to drive modern trade.
Mene’s endorsement is expected to further strengthen calls for greater digital integration among African customs administrations as the continent pushes to remove trade barriers and unlock the full potential of the AfCFTA.
Responding, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, thanked the AfCFTA Secretary-General for recognising the Service’s modernisation drive and reaffirmed the NCS commitment to developing technology that responds to Africa’s peculiar trade environment.
Adeniyi said the Service would not rest on its current achievements but would continue to expand the frontiers of innovation while drawing lessons from global best practices.
“We sincerely appreciate your passion for promoting intra-African trade and strengthening the interconnectivity of customs systems across the continent,” Adeniyi said.
“We are not done yet. We will continue to expand the frontiers of innovation, learning from global best practices while developing solutions that advance the peculiar interests of the African continent.”
The Customs boss further pledged closer collaboration with AfCFTA and other African customs administrations to deepen digital integration, facilitate legitimate trade and strengthen regional economic cooperation.
He said the recognition from the continental trade body had further reinforced the NCS resolve to sustain its modernisation programme and position technology at the centre of Nigeria’s trade facilitation efforts.
The development comes as African countries intensify efforts to dismantle non-tariff barriers, reduce border bottlenecks and make cross-border trade faster and more efficient under the AfCFTA framework.
