By Yahaya Umar
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, yesterday, urged development partners to support Nigeria in tackling structural challenges stalling trade facilitation and revenue collection in the country.
Edun made the appeal at the 4th World Customs Organization ,WCO, Donors Conference for the West and Central Africa ,WCA, Region.
The conference was themed: “Partner mobilization around the priority projects of the WCO’s WCA region: a genuine pledge to meet the modernization goals and performance targets of Member Customs administrations”.
His call followed a detailed presentation by the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service ,NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, who identified persistent challenges affecting customs operations and regional trade.
Adeniyi highlighted several barriers to efficient customs service delivery, including inadequate digital infrastructure, limited interconnectivity between national customs systems, and insufficient technical capacity.
He also pointed out challenges in implementing the technical aspects of the African Continental Free Trade Area ,AfCFTA, rules of origin, technical barriers, fragile borders, and the rapid evolution of e-commerce.
According to Adeniyi, “These lapses have hampered effective information exchange, delayed the implementation of advanced customs procedures for seamless processing of declarations and risk management, amongst others”.
In response to these challenges, Adeniyi said the Customs Service developed the B’Odogwu digital platform, which has significantly enhanced its operational capacity, established technical interfaces with other government agencies involved in trade, deployed advanced scanners at major ports, and facilitated the training of over 5,000 officers in areas such as valuation, classification, rules of origin, and post-clearance audit.
“These interventions have reduced clearance times, 90% increase in revenue collection , exceeding targets by 20%, and improved compliance rates”, he said.
To further consolidate gains and address persisting issues, Adeniyi proposed the establishment of a Regional Interconnectivity Project, a competency-based human resource management system, technology-driven illicit trade detection mechanisms, AfCFTA implementation support, and regional single window integration.
He said, “The business case for each initiative has been detailed in the conference documentation, including implementation timelines, resource requirements, and performance indicators.
“To our development partners: these initiatives represent high-impact interventions designed based on comprehensive needs assessments and feasibility studies that will yield measurable improvements across our region.
“We have established coordination for all donor-funded programs within the Nigeria Customs Service to avoid duplication and ensure effective outcomes, with regular progress reports and independent evaluations.
“The technical challenges we face require a collaborative approach. As we engage in discussions, I encourage all participants to identify practical, scalable solutions that can be sustained through local capacity building”.
Adeniyi also reiterated the Service’s readiness to serve as a regional hub for capacity building.
