The Nigeria Customs Service and Cameroon Customs Administration have commenced moves to end duplicate customs checks at the Mfum-Ekok border and speed up the movement of goods and travellers between both countries.
The development followed a joint assessment of the Ekok-Mfum One-Stop Border Post by the Nigeria Customs Service and the Cameroon Customs Administration on Tuesday.
The initiative is expected to reduce delays and other barriers confronting traders along the Nigeria-Cameroon border, while strengthening security and improving regional trade.
The Director-General of Cameroon Customs, Fongod Nuvaga, said the assessment marked the first concrete step towards unified border operations.
He called for the introduction of real-time data sharing and joint risk-management systems to ensure that cargoes and travellers are processed once instead of being subjected to repeated checks by both countries.
Speaking at the event, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the two countries were building on an existing partnership to develop a border system that could serve as a model for wider regional integration.
“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.
The exercise, themed “Leveraging the Nigeria Customs Service Trade Modernisation Project to Advance Seamless Cross-Border Trade and Shared Prosperity,” attracted customs officials, security agencies, technical experts, development partners and community leaders from both countries.
Adeniyi said Nigeria and Cameroon had recently sent delegations on a study tour of the Beitbridge Border Post linking South Africa and Zimbabwe to examine best practices in border management.
He added that technical teams from both countries were working to conclude a joint operational agreement, which is expected to be signed at the forthcoming C-PACT conference.
The NCS boss also acknowledged the support of the African Development Bank, ECOWAS, ECCAS, Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat for the initiative.
The meeting also witnessed the launch of the Mfum-Ekok Border Modernisation Initiative, which will focus on digitising customs procedures and upgrading border infrastructure.
The initiative is expected to create new economic opportunities and support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area by making cross-border trade between the two countries faster and more efficient.