The Nigeria Customs Service has intensified efforts to position Nigeria at the centre of Africa’s expanding single market, deepening its partnership with the African Export-Import Bank to accelerate intra-African trade and dismantle barriers slowing the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The renewed collaboration was reaffirmed during a working visit by the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Dr George Elombi, to the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, at the Customs headquarters in Abuja, according to a statement released by the service on Sunday.
The meeting comes at a time when African governments are increasingly turning attention to the AfCFTA, a continental trade pact expected to create a market of over 1.4 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product estimated at more than $3.4tn.
Discussions between both institutions centred on expanding trade facilitation initiatives, harmonising customs procedures, strengthening regional transit systems and developing mechanisms that would make cross-border trade easier and more efficient.
Adeniyi, in the statement, said the partnership between the Nigeria Customs Service and Afreximbank was anchored on a common belief that Africa’s prosperity would be driven largely by trade among African countries rather than dependence on external markets.
