By ebosele@hotmail.com –
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended the selection of AfriTrade CMP Limited, a subsidiary of Nigerian-owned Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited, for a 20-year, multi-billion-dollar African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Customs Modernisation Project.
The President described the development as a major validation of Nigeria’s growing capacity to develop indigenous solutions capable of serving the wider African market.
Tinubu’s commendation was contained in a State House statement issued on Monday, August 10, 2026, by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, following the selection of AfriTrade CMP Limited to implement the continental project.
The project is expected to deploy digital and physical infrastructure to improve customs processes, cargo tracking, border management and trade-data exchange across participating African countries.
The President noted that the selection was particularly significant because another subsidiary of Bergmans, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, is already implementing Nigeria’s homegrown customs modernisation programme through the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
According to him, the development demonstrates that solutions developed and tested in Nigeria are increasingly gaining recognition as potential models for other African countries.
“What has been built and tested in Nigeria is now providing a model for the continent. This is how African integration should work: Africans building African solutions for African market,” Tinubu said.
He added that Nigerian institutions and businesses possessed the expertise and capacity to develop the technology and infrastructure required to make Africa’s single market more efficient and competitive.
The President further commended Bergmans, AfriTrade CMP Limited, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, the NCS, Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, and other Nigerian professionals whose work, he said, had earned continental confidence.
The development comes against the backdrop of growing recognition of Nigeria’s customs modernisation efforts, particularly the deployment of B’Odogwu, the country’s indigenous Unified Customs Management System.
During a recent visit to the NCS Headquarters in Abuja, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene inspected the Trade Modernisation Project alongside members of the Senate Committee on Customs led by Senator Jibrin Isah.
Mene described B’Odogwu, which was first piloted in October 2024, as a model with potential for wider adoption across Africa.
He disclosed that non-African companies had offered similar solutions but noted that AfCFTA had opted for an African solution, underscoring the importance of indigenous expertise and innovation in building the continent’s trade architecture.
Senator Isah also expressed the committee’s support for the modernisation programme after witnessing the systems in operation, saying members had become ambassadors of the initiative.
The B’Odogwu platform forms a key component of Nigeria’s customs modernisation programme, supporting the digitalisation of customs processes, cargo tracking, data management, surveillance, risk management and non-intrusive inspection.
The system is also being integrated with the National Single Window, launched in March 2026 as a single digital gateway for cross-border trade processes.
The selection of AfriTrade CMP Limited for the continental project therefore places Nigerian-developed customs technology and expertise at the centre of efforts to strengthen trade facilitation, border management and economic integration across Africa.
