The Nigeria Customs Service and Benin Customs launched a joint assessment of the Sèmè-Kraké One-Stop Border Post to eliminate persistent operational bottlenecks. Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi and Benin Customs Director-General Raouf Malehossou initiated plans for real-time data exchanges, including the Customs Declaration Exchange System, to streamline trade along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor.
Border officials from Nigeria and Benin initiated the deployment of a joint digital system on Friday, September 11, 2026, at the Sèmè-Kraké border post. The Customs Declaration Exchange System connects the technological infrastructure of both countries, allowing declarations registered on either side of the border to be viewed immediately by neighbouring officials. The initiative is aimed at reducing cross-border trade barriers, strengthening regional economic integration and ensuring faster, safer and more seamless movement of legitimate goods and services along the strategic Nigeria-Benin trade corridor. Speaking during the joint assessment ceremony at Sèmè-Kraké, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the exercise was designed to assess the operational readiness of the border and to review existing processes and facilities, as well as to demonstrate the border-modernisation solutions being deployed to support operations between the two customs administrations.
Operational Realities Along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor
The Sèmè-Kraké crossing functions as a vital anchor on the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, described by Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service Bashir Adewale Adeniyi as one of the busiest land borders in West Africa and a critical gateway for regional trade.
“The corridor carries about 70 percent of the sub-region’s transit trade, making efficiency at the border crucial to the economies of both countries and the wider West African region”
Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service
Operating around the clock throughout the year, the crossing handles thousands of consignments and tens of thousands of travellers. Adeniyi emphasized the economic toll of operational friction at the gate, warning that delays ripple through supply chains across West Africa.
“A corridor of that weight does not fail quietly. Every hour lost at this gate is multiplied across thousands of consignments and tens of thousands of travellers, and is paid for in the price of goods in markets from Cotonou to Lagos,” Adeniyi said. He said; “every hour saved at the border translates into savings for traders, transporters, consumers and businesses across the region. An hour saved here is saved for the whole region. There are few places on this continent where the ratio between effort and effect is as favourable as it is at this crossing.”
Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service
Digital Interconnection and Data-Sharing Plans
Despite the physical integration provided by the One-Stop Border Post, Adeniyi acknowledged that significant technological and operational gaps remained between the two Customs administrations. Officials disclosed that although both administrations currently operated under one roof, they did not yet have a fully integrated digital platform. There was still no seamless real-time exchange of declarations, manifests, transit information, risk profiles or enforcement alerts between them.
The Customs boss explained that Nigeria had therefore come to the Sèmè-Kraké border with a specific objective, to close the systems gaps and establish a more effective data-sharing arrangement among both administrations. According to him, work was already underway to interconnect the two Customs administrations through a common data exchange arrangement, building on their experience with regional transit operations. This buildout expands upon prior regional transit efforts, including the May 2025 pilot of the Interconnected Goods Management System launched at Sèmè-Kraké with support from ECOWAS to improve cargo visibility and reduce diversions and delays.
Informal Trade Dynamics and Coordinated Risk Management
The initiative aims to streamline trade along the Cotonou-Lagos corridor while facilitating trade for small merchants, who are particularly numerous along this corridor. Benin Customs Director General Raouf Malehossou supported the principle of closer integration of operations. According to officials from both administrations, the goal is to avoid duplicate formalities, expedite cargo processing, and enhance customs security through harmonized procedures, joint risk management, and improved coordination of controls.
Beninese and Nigerian teams examined the state of infrastructure, existing procedures, and the conditions necessary for further interoperability between the two services during the joint assessment of the Sèmè-Kraké one-stop border post. Technical teams are set to continue work on interconnection and harmonization at the Sèmè-Kraké post, with the system’s operational launch depending on connectivity between the systems, and initial operations expected to commence in the coming months.
Продолжение темы
