African Customs Reform Opens Regional Markets

African governments and regional institutions are trying to remove some of the barriers that limit cross-border commerce. The most significant development is a 20-year, $3.1 billion concession agreement signed by the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat and Nigerian company Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies. The deal establishes a framework for financing and deploying customs infrastructure across participating states.

The project covers digital and physical infrastructure, including customs-management platforms, secure exchanges of trade data, one-stop border posts, electronic cargo tracking, non-intrusive inspection equipment and integrated data centers. By making national customs systems more interoperable, the project intends to shorten clearance times of goods moving across the continent.

National-level reforms are moving in the same direction…