Nigeria and Cameroon have launched the Mfum-Ekok Border Modernisation Initiative, a joint project aimed at upgrading border infrastructure, deploying technology and reducing trade bottlenecks along a key regional corridor.
The initiative was unveiled on Wednesday during a joint assessment exercise involving the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Cameroon Customs Administration.
The project is expected to improve trade facilitation and border efficiency while supporting the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Mfum-Ekok corridor links Cross River State in Nigeria with Cameroon’s South-West Region and serves as an important route for the movement of goods and people between both countries.
Nigeria, Cameroon assess one-stop border post
As part of the initiative, customs officials from both countries commenced a joint assessment of the Ekok-Mfum One-Stop Border Post (OSBP).
The exercise was held in Mfum, near Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State, under the theme, “Leveraging the Nigeria Customs Service Trade Modernisation Project.”
Speaking at the event, Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the initiative builds on existing cooperation between the customs administrations of Nigeria and Cameroon.
“We are not building from nothing. We are taking something that works between the two of us,” Adeniyi said.
He said the assessment would examine how existing bilateral cooperation could be expanded to deliver greater economic benefits for the region and Africa.
Adeniyi noted that despite the strong historical and cultural ties between communities on both sides of the border, the movement of goods and people remained less efficient than expected.
AfDB, ECOWAS, Afreximbank support project
The Customs chief identified the African Development Bank (AfDB), ECOWAS, Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Afreximbank and AfCFTA Secretariat among development partners supporting the initiative.
He also disclosed that Nigerian and Cameroonian customs officials recently undertook a study tour of the Beitbridge Border Post between South Africa and Zimbabwe to examine international best practices in border management.
According to Adeniyi, technical teams from both countries are currently working on a joint operational agreement expected to be signed at the forthcoming C-PACT conference.
Cameroon seeks real-time data sharing
Cameroon’s Director-General of Customs, Fongod Nuvaga, described the joint assessment as a major step towards coordinated border operations.
Nuvaga said the initiative would improve efficiency through enhanced cooperation, real-time data exchange and joint risk-management systems.
He said improved information sharing could reduce duplication in cargo inspections and traveller screening, helping to accelerate trade flows and improve the experience of businesses and commuters.
The Cameroonian customs chief stressed that coordinated border management would allow goods and travellers to undergo more efficient processing instead of facing repetitive checks on both sides.
World Bank highlights Africa’s trade barriers
The initiative comes amid wider efforts to tackle structural barriers affecting trade across Africa.
A recent World Bank report, “Integrating Africa: From Threads to Hubs,” found that nearly 60 per cent of Africa’s total trade costs originate from behind-the-border barriers rather than tariffs or border controls.
The report identified customs inefficiencies, regulatory misalignment, poor logistics services, fragmented transit systems and inadequate infrastructure among the factors driving high trade costs.
The World Bank said reducing tariffs alone would not significantly lower trade costs unless countries also addressed domestic constraints affecting the movement of goods and services.
The Nigeria-Cameroon border initiative therefore forms part of broader efforts to strengthen regional trade, logistics and economic integration across Africa.
