By Peace Udugba
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Cameroon Customs Administration have commenced a joint assessment of the Ekok-Mfum One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) as part of efforts to reduce cross-border trade barriers, strengthen border security and promote regional economic integration.
The high-level assessment, held on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, was themed “Leveraging the Nigeria Customs Service Trade Modernisation Project to Advance Seamless Cross-Border Trade and Shared Prosperity.”
The exercise brought together customs officials, technical experts, security agencies, development partners and community leaders from Nigeria and Cameroon.
Speaking at the event, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the initiative was aimed at building on the existing cooperation between the two customs administrations while developing a model that could be replicated across the region.
“We are not building from nothing. We are taking something that works between the two of us and asking whether it can be made to work for the region and hopefully for our continent,” Adeniyi said.
He acknowledged the contributions of the African Development Bank, ECOWAS, ECCAS, Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat to efforts aimed at improving cross-border trade.
Adeniyi also disclosed that Nigerian and Cameroonian customs delegations had recently undertaken a study tour of the Beitbridge Border Post between South Africa and Zimbabwe to examine international best practices in border management.
According to him, technical teams from both countries are working to conclude a joint operational agreement, which is expected to be signed at the forthcoming C-PACT conference.
The Director-General of Cameroon Customs, Fongod Nuvaga, described the assessment as a major step towards achieving more coordinated border operations between the two countries.
Nuvaga called for stronger real-time data sharing and joint risk-management systems, noting that cargo and travellers should be processed once rather than subjected to repeated checks by agencies on both sides of the border.
The exercise also culminated in the launch of the Mfum-Ekok Border Modernisation Initiative, which is designed to transform operations at the border through technology and improved infrastructure.
The initiative will focus on digitising customs processes, optimising physical infrastructure and creating new economic opportunities in line with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Nigeria-Cameroon initiative is expected to improve the movement of legitimate goods and people while strengthening border security and supporting greater economic integration between the two countries.
