The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has signed a 20-year concession agreement with Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited to digitise customs operations across Africa, targeted at boosting intra-African trade.
The agreement, executed between AfCFTA Holdings Limited, the AfCFTA Secretariat, and AfriTrade CMP Limited, a subsidiary of Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited covers the AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project, which will see the deployment of digital technology to customs administrations across African countries.
The $3.1 billion concession agreement is aimed at accelerating intra-African trade, reducing border bottlenecks and improving revenue collection and comes weeks after both parties entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on transforming customs operations across Africa.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, held in Abuja on Wednesday night, the chairman of Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited, Alhaji Saleh Ahmadu, said the agreement would drive customs operations across Africa toward advanced technological development.
He described the deal as the fruition of years of work, and said it would help simplify trade across the continent.
He said Bergmans, the partnership reflected a shared commitment to secure, efficient and scalable trade infrastructure. He commended the AfCFTA Secretariat for aligning with the vision of advancing Africa’s economic integration agenda.
Ahmadu said Bergmans’ role would be to provide financing and technical expertise, working with stakeholders around the world, and pledged the company’s commitment to working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and customs administrations across the continent to enhance trade facilitation, open up investment opportunities and build capacity for sustainable growth. He said the company was committed to replicating the success it had recorded in Nigeria across the rest of the continent.
Also in his remarks, the secretary-general of the AfCFTA Secretariat, His Excellency Wamkele Mene, described the agreement as a transformative tool for customs modernisation on the continent.
He said he was introduced to Ahmadu by the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, and was impressed by the modernisation and digitisation achievements recorded in Nigeria’s customs system.
Mene said the AfCFTA Secretariat had a shared ambition with Bergmans to position African customs systems to be digital, transparent, accountable and supportive of the continent’s economic growth. He said the Secretariat specifically chose Bergmans because it was an African company capable of deploying digital technology for the continent’s advancement, noting that several non-African companies had approached the Secretariat to offer similar services but were turned down in favour of an African firm.
Responding to questions from journalists, Ahmadu said the technology to be deployed under the agreement had already proven successful in Nigeria, where it had increased revenue, removed bottlenecks in trade transactions and reduced clearance times. He said the same model was now being extended to the rest of the continent.