The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) will host two major conferences in Abuja this December to strengthen border security, modernise customs operations and advance trade integration across Africa, with digital connectivity and coordinated border management at the heart of the agenda.The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) Conference will hold from December 7th to the 8th, 2026, followed by the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) 2026 Conference from December 9th to the 11th. NCS spokesman Abdullahi Maiwada said the conferences form part of efforts to facilitate legitimate trade and support Africa’s economic integration agenda.
The CGC Conference, themed “Securing Borders, Enabling Trade: A Customs Commitment to Safer Communities,” will review the Service’s modernisation efforts and assess progress made in implementing previous reform commitments. Discussions will cover digital customs operations, trusted trade corridors, seamless payments, intelligence-led enforcement and collaboration among security agencies.
The conference will examine the relationship between effective customs administration, national security and trade facilitation, with sub-themes including “Enabling African Trade: Digital Customs, Trusted Corridors and Seamless Payments” and “Secure Borders, Safer Communities: Intelligence, Partnership and Trust at the Frontline.”
Building on the CGC Conference, C-PACT 2026 will shift the focus to Africa’s wider trade ambitions, particularly the challenge of fragmented border procedures, incompatible digital systems and duplicated controls that increase costs and delay the movement of goods. Under the theme “One Border, Interconnected Systems: Advancing Customs Cooperation through One-Stop Border Posts,” the conference will explore how neighbouring countries can coordinate inspections, share intelligence and connect digital platforms to make border crossings faster and more predictable.
Discussions will also examine the implementation of key African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiatives, including the Integrated Transit System, Single Bond Guarantee Scheme and Electronic Certificate of Origin system. The conference is expected to produce practical recommendations, identify technology and investment priorities, and develop an implementation roadmap for digitally connected borders across Africa.
The conferences come as African countries accelerate implementation of the AfCFTA and pursue greater regional economic integration, with customs modernisation and digitalisation seen as critical enablers of cross-border trade. Similar efforts are underway across the continent, with COMESA hosting customs meetings on digital trade and regional integration, and ECOWAS convening trade facilitation committees to translate regional commitments into measurable results.
For Nigeria, hosting the CGC and C-PACT conferences signals a commitment to positioning the country as a hub for Africa’s trade facilitation agenda, with the goal of building a more integrated, competitive and prosperous African market.
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