Nigeria, Benin mull digital system to ease cross-border trade

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and its Benin Republic counterpart have commenced work on a digital interconnection system to facilitate faster clearance of goods, improve risk management and strengthen coordination at the Sèmè–Kraké Joint Border Post.

The initiative is aimed at establishing real-time exchange of customs declarations, manifests, transit information, risk profiles and enforcement alerts between the two countries.

Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this at the assessment and commissioning of the Joint Border Post at Sèmè–Kraké on the Nigeria-Benin border.

Adeniyi said the proposed interconnection would address the major gap preventing the facility from operating as a truly joint border post.

He said although Nigeria and Benin had shared the facility for years, the two Customs administrations were still operating separate systems.

According to him, the buildings and infrastructure at the border were completed, but what remained was the integration of the systems used by both administrations.

He said, “Without interconnectivity, this is not a joint border post. It is two border posts sharing a car park.”

Adeniyi said work was already underway to connect the two Customs administrations through a common data exchange arrangement, building on their experience with regional transit systems.

He explained that the system would enable a declaration lodged on one side of the border to become visible to the other side in real time.

It would also allow transit consignments to be tracked from their point of origin to destination, while risk profiles and enforcement alerts generated by one administration could be transmitted to its counterpart before they became outdated.

The Customs boss said the reform was necessary because Sèmè–Kraké sits on the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, which carries about 70 per cent of the sub-region’s transit trade.

He described the crossing as one of the busiest land borders in West Africa, operating round the clock throughout the year.

Adeniyi said delays at the border had consequences beyond the immediate crossing point, as every hour lost affected consignments, travellers and the prices of goods in markets from Cotonou to Lagos.

He said the two Customs administrations had also identified other measures required to make the border more efficient, including the restoration of scanning facilities, improved access control, surveillance and lighting.

He added that there was a need for a standing Nigeria-Benin enforcement and intelligence mechanism for coordinated patrols and rapid response.

The NCS chief also called for harmonised bilingual standard operating procedures covering cargo, passengers, inspection, and transit and incident escalation.

He said joint risk management would enable the Customs administrations to focus resources on high-risk consignments rather than subjecting all cargo to the same level of intervention.

Adeniyi further called for an empowered joint management structure for the shared infrastructure, a preventive maintenance framework and better organisation of the border yard through dedicated lanes, holding areas, signage and a regulated market space.

He said the objective was to transform Sèmè–Kraké into a technology-enabled Joint Border Post based on Customs interconnectivity, joint risk management, coordinated enforcement, secure infrastructure, harmonised procedures and accountable joint governance.

The Comptroller-General said the experience could provide a model for other border crossings within the region.

He noted that the move was in line with commitments made by the governments of Nigeria and Benin to deepen bilateral trade and integration.

The Director-General of Benin Customs, Colonel Raouf Malèhossou, said the two administrations must move beyond sharing experiences to implementing coordinated border management techniques.

Malèhossou said the objective was to determine whether a truck, trader or traveller could be processed only once and whether the two countries’ data and risk-management systems could communicate before the movement reached the border.

He stressed the importance of risk management in facilitating legitimate trade while protecting the border against illicit activities.

According to him, modern roads, scanners and other infrastructure alone cannot guarantee an efficient border.

He said institutional coordination, digital interoperability, clear lines of responsibility and continuous investment in customs personnel were equally important.

Malèhossou said the reforms would help Nigeria and Benin take advantage of the opportunities presented by intra-African trade, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Area.