The Nigeria Benin Customs administrations have begun steps to improve cross-border trade by harmonising procedures and strengthening cooperation at the Sèmè-Kraké border.
The initiative formed part of a joint assessment of the One-Stop Border Post conducted on Friday at the border town. The exercise was aimed at reviewing operational readiness, examining border facilities and processes, reducing trade barriers and improving the movement of legitimate goods and services between both countries.
Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, said the exercise would also demonstrate a Border Modernization solution designed to support secure interoperability between the two Customs administrations.
According to Adeniyi, the Sèmè-Kraké crossing is strategically important because it sits along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, which handles about 70 per cent of transit trade in the sub-region. He described the border as one of the busiest land crossings in West Africa and noted that it operates around the clock throughout the year.
He said delays at the crossing have consequences that extend beyond the border because thousands of consignments and travellers use the route. According to him, time lost during border processing can eventually affect the prices of goods in markets stretching from Cotonou to Lagos.
Adeniyi identified the lack of real-time information sharing as one of the major gaps between the two administrations. Although both Customs authorities operate within the same border post, he said their systems are not yet fully interconnected.
He explained that there is currently no seamless real-time exchange of declarations, manifests, transit information, risk profiles and enforcement alerts between Nigeria and Benin. The Nigeria Customs Service is therefore working on an interconnection framework that would allow information submitted on one side of the border to become available to the other in real time.
The proposed arrangement is also expected to improve the tracking of goods from their point of origin to their destination and enable both administrations to respond more quickly to identified risks and enforcement alerts.
Adeniyi also highlighted the importance of informal traders, particularly women, to cross-border commerce. He noted that women account for more than 70 per cent of informal cross-border traders across Africa, while about 22 per cent of Benin’s informal exports along the corridor are destined for Nigeria.
He added that informal trade is estimated to account for about one-fifth of economic activity in Nigeria and an even larger share in Benin, underscoring the importance of making legitimate cross-border movement easier.
The Customs chief commended the Benin Republic Customs administration for its confidence in Nigeria Customs’ leadership of the One-Stop Border Post initiative.
In response, Benin Customs Director General Raouf Malehossou commended Nigeria for promoting greater trade integration within the sub-region, saying the initiative could support broader economic growth.
