Nigeria – Cameroon Customs Launch Joint Border Assessment to Streamline Mfum-Ekok Trade
Nigeria, Cameroon Customs Launch Joint Border Assessment to Streamline Mfum-Ekok Trade
By Babatunde Aremu
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Cameroon Customs Administration have commenced a joint assessment of the Ekok-Mfum One-Stop Border Post (OSBP), in a move aimed at reducing cross-border trade barriers, strengthening border security and promoting 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 senior 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, stressed the longstanding cooperation between the two customs administrations, noting that despite the geographical proximity of both countries, the movement of people and goods across the border remains unnecessarily difficult.
According to him, the initiative would build on existing cooperation between Nigeria and Cameroon while seeking to develop a model that could be replicated across the region and the African continent.
“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 support of key regional and international institutions, including the African Development Bank, ECOWAS, ECCAS, Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat.
Adeniyi further disclosed that officials from both countries had recently undertaken a study tour of the Beitbridge Border Post between South Africa and Zimbabwe, where they examined international best practices in integrated border management.
He said technical teams from both administrations were currently working towards finalising a joint operational agreement, which is expected to be signed at the forthcoming C-PACT conference.
Also speaking, the Director General of Cameroon Customs, Fongod Nuvaga, described the joint assessment as the first concrete step towards achieving more unified border operations between the two countries.
Nuvaga called for increased real-time data sharing and the deployment of joint risk-management systems to ensure that cargo and travellers are processed once, thereby eliminating unnecessary duplication of checks.
The event also witnessed the launch of the Mfum-Ekok Border Modernisation Initiative, designed to transform border operations through digital customs processes, improved infrastructure and enhanced trade facilitation.
The initiative is expected to create new economic opportunities for border communities and traders while supporting the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The development marks a significant step towards establishing a more efficient and integrated Nigeria-Cameroon border, with the potential to boost legitimate trade and deepen economic cooperation across Central and West Africa.
