The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has successfully concluded its maiden Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) Summit, a landmark three-day gathering that drew the continent’s top Customs leaders and trade experts to Abuja.
Held from November 17–19, 2025, the summit marked a pivotal moment in Africa’s effort to streamline cross-border trade as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) enters deeper implementation stages.
The closing ceremony, staged at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton, capped a series of intensive deliberations hosted by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, who steered discussions that cut across policy, technology and continental cooperation.
CGC Adeniyi described the summit as a timely response to Africa’s long-standing fragmentation in Customs practices, noting that C-PACT now provides “a credible platform to move from fragmented efforts to collective solutions.”
He expressed optimism that the resolutions adopted during the summit would reshape the way African nations manage their borders, promote compliance, and dismantle the non-tariff barriers that have slowed intra-continental commerce for decades.
According to him, the C-PACT initiative—conceptualised, proposed and championed by Nigeria—would operate as a permanent mechanism for Customs collaboration across Africa.
“Through C-PACT,” Adeniyi stressed, “African Customs administrations can now engage regularly, share operational experiences and harmonise processes to support AfCFTA’s goals.”
The tone for the summit had earlier been set by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the opening ceremony with a charge to African governments to remove structural trade barriers and embrace a unified framework for competitiveness.
Shettima’s remarks underscored the urgency of creating a continent where goods move seamlessly, industries scale up and cross-border commercial activities no longer suffer from bureaucratic inconsistencies.
The Secretary-General of the World Customs Organisation, Ian Saunders, reinforced that message by reminding delegates that Customs institutions remain the backbone of AfCFTA’s success, as they “connect borders, enforce standards and determine the practical realities of trade.”
Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Kanayo Awani, also warned that AfCFTA’s economic dividends would remain elusive without modern, interoperable and technology-driven Customs systems working in sync across the continent.
Throughout the summit, delegates engaged in deep technical sessions that examined rules of origin, transit regimes, risk management frameworks, digital documentation, gender equity and coordinated border management.
The consensus among participants was clear: C-PACT must continue beyond the inaugural edition as a technical body responsible for monitoring progress and aligning national procedures with emerging continental benchmarks.
Private-sector representatives—including freight operators, manufacturers, logistics professionals, port authorities and exporters—added their voices, calling attention to operational delays, inconsistent processes and documentation barriers that undermine regional trade.
Reflecting on the summit’s impact, the National President of the Association of Licensed Customs Agents, Emenike Kingsley, said it offered an unprecedented opportunity for Customs officials and economic operators to jointly assess and confront the practical challenges affecting trade across Africa.