Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has announced that Nigeria is preparing to suspend customs duties on qualifying goods traded within Africa as part of its commitment to fully implementing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
Adeniyi stated over the weekend that President Bola Tinubu has issued a clear directive to the Customs Service to advance trade integration and unlock the economic advantages of duty-free commerce across the continent.
“You all recall that some three months ago, Mr President renewed my mandate by giving an extension to my service years,” he said.
“In that document, specific KPIs were mentioned, and one of them is the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.”
He explained that the AfCFTA, which seeks to establish a unified African market for goods and services, requires member countries to progressively eliminate tariffs on intra-African trade.
Adeniyi noted that Nigeria is prepared to meet these obligations.
“When Customs implement a free trade agreement, there are issues around rules of origin, trade preferences, and suspending customs duty on goods traded between members of the same economic bloc,” he said.
“This time, we’re talking about the entire continent of Africa. Countries will have to give up part of their duties, reduce them gradually until it reach to zero, so goods produced within Africa can be traded duty-free.”
He acknowledged that past regional integration efforts, including within ECOWAS, encountered implementation setbacks and stressed the need to avoid repeating those mistakes by placing Customs at the centre of AfCFTA execution.
“There is a major gap. Customs have not been integrated enough in implementing the AfCFTA. This led to the creation of the partnerships for African cooperation — CIPAC — to ensure all actors work together,” he said.
Adeniyi disclosed that with presidential approval, he has brought together key national agencies, including the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Nigerian Import-Export Bank, commercial banks, and the Nigerian Ports Authority, to collaborate with Customs on facilitating cross-border trade.
