The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), has stated that the Nigeria Customs modernisation model has been adopted by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA), as the template for a $3.1bn project to modernise Customs across Africa.
The ICRC Director-General, Dr. Jobson Ewalefoh disclosed this in Abuja, while reacting to the signing of the AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project concession agreement.
The agreement, signed between the AfCFTA Secretariat and Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited, the parent company of the Trade Modernisation Project (TMP), will deploy the Nigerian-developed customs solution across about 50 AfCFTA member countries.
Dr. Ewalefoh described the development as a major endorsement of Nigeria’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP), framework.
“Africa is not just adopting a piece of technology. Africa is adopting a Nigerian idea, built by Nigerians, proven on Nigerian soil, and now trusted to carry the trade ambitions of an entire continent,” he said:
According to him, the Trade Modernisation Project is evidence that properly structured and regulated PPPs can attract private investment, strengthen public institutions and deliver infrastructure without placing the entire financial burden on government.
Dr. Ewalefoh recalled that the project faced considerable doubts and resistance during its early stages.
“When this project came on board, there were a lot of doubts. We asked ourselves: will this work, can we trust the capacity of the proponent? But today, what we are seeing is amazing.”
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He said one of the major lessons from the project is that resistance to change, rather than lack of funding, remains a major obstacle to implementing reforms.
“The biggest challenge is not ideas, the biggest challenge is not funding — the biggest challenge is resistance to change,” he noted.
The ICRC Director-General also said Nigeria should take pride in exporting an indigenous solution to the rest of Africa.
“We are not selling a solution built by a foreign company; we are selling an indigenous Nigerian company to the world. Nigerian engineers and Nigerian talent designed and built this solution from the scratch.”
Public Private Partnership (PPP)
The ICRC DG commended the Nigeria Customs Service and the Trade Modernisation Project for their collaboration, saying the partnership demonstrates how government and the private sector can work together to deliver public value.
Dr. Ewalefoh also praised the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for his role in driving the digital transformation of the service, particularly the rollout of the B’Odogwu Unified Customs Management System across Customs commands.
He noted that the project has contributed to significant improvements in customs revenue and efficiency since its implementation.
Dr. Ewalefoh said such partnerships could also support Nigeria’s ambition of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy.
“Every naira of private investment that goes into infrastructure like this is a naira the government does not have to borrow, while the returns, in revenue and efficiency, still accrue to the country.”
The Commission cited the Lekki Deep Sea Port as another example of successful PPP infrastructure delivery in Nigeria.
It said the selection of a Nigerian company for the continental customs modernisation project positions the country not only as a market for infrastructure but also as an exporter of technology and solutions to Africa.
The development comes weeks after Dr. Ewalefoh called for stronger regional cooperation among PPP institutions to improve technical capacity, knowledge sharing and harmonisation of standards, at the ECOWAS Infrastructure Forum in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire,
He described the AfCFTA development as evidence that such regional cooperation can produce tangible results.
“One country’s well-regulated PPP can become the infrastructure backbone of an entire continent,” he stated.
The ICRC said the AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project demonstrates the potential of Nigeria’s PPP framework to drive investment, improve public-sector efficiency and support economic integration across Africa.
