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Securing Borders, Enabling Trade: Customs Unveils Plan for CGC, C-PACT 2026
By Prince Benson Davies
The Nigeria Customs Service has announced plans to host two major conferences in Abuja in December 2026 as part of its renewed push to strengthen border security, facilitate legitimate trade and advance regional economic integration across Africa.
The events are the Comptroller-General of Customs Conference, scheduled for 7th to 8th December 2026, and the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade, C-PACT 2026, scheduled for 9th to 11th December 2026.
The CGC Conference will be held under the theme Securing Borders, Enabling Trade: A Customs Commitment to Safer Communities. It will provide a platform to review the Service’s modernisation efforts, assess progress made on previous commitments and reinforce the link between effective customs administration, national security and trade facilitation.
C-PACT 2026 will build on the national discussions and extend them to the continental level. Themed One Border, Interconnected Systems: Advancing Customs Cooperation through One-Stop Border Posts, it will focus on practical approaches to coordinated border management and digital connectivity across Africa.
The CGC Conference is expected to bring together government officials, customs leadership, trade stakeholders and institutional partners to examine progress in implementing modernisation and trade facilitation reforms.
Sessions will be held under the sub-themes Enabling African Trade: Digital Customs, Trusted Corridors and Seamless Payments, and Secure Borders, Safer Communities: Intelligence, Partnership and Trust at the Frontline.
Participants will review commitments made in 2025 and results achieved in 2026. The programme will also feature presentations on customs modernisation, presentation of Authorised Economic Operator certificates and discussions on measuring the impact of reforms on trade and revenue.
The conference will further examine intelligence-led enforcement, emerging border threats, inter-agency collaboration and the professional responsibilities of officers in protecting communities and maintaining public trust.
A major component will be the examination of how digital transformation and stakeholder partnerships are improving customs operations. Stakeholders, including AEO beneficiaries, the National Single Window Secretariat, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, excise-sector representatives and other relevant institutions, will assess reform outcomes and identify areas for further improvement.
The second day of the conference will focus on coordinated responses to converging border threats. It will bring together relevant security and enforcement institutions, including the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
Building on the national conference, C-PACT 2026 will provide a continental platform for customs administrations, policymakers, the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, Regional Economic Communities, border management agencies, development partners, technology providers and private-sector stakeholders.
The conference will address persistent challenges affecting cross-border trade, including fragmented procedures, duplicated controls, limited information exchange, incompatible digital systems and insufficient coordination among border agencies.
It will explore how One-Stop Border Posts, supported by interconnected customs platforms, coordinated risk management, harmonised procedures and secure information exchange, can reduce delays, lower trade costs and improve the predictability of goods movement across African trade corridors.
The C-PACT 2026 programme will feature high-level policy dialogue, strategic discussions among customs administrations, technical sessions on connected borders, presentations of operational experiences from existing and emerging One-Stop Border Posts, technology demonstrations and discussions on public-private partnerships for financing and delivering modern border infrastructure.
The conference will also focus on implementing relevant AfCFTA initiatives, including the AfCFTA Integrated Transit System, the Single Bond Guarantee Scheme and the Electronic Certificate of Origin system. It is expected to generate practical recommendations, identify priority technology and investment opportunities, strengthen institutional partnerships and develop an implementation-oriented roadmap to advance interconnected, digitally enabled border systems across the continent.
The Nigeria Customs Service, under the leadership of the Comptroller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and its management team, reiterated its commitment to strengthening collaboration with national institutions, regional partners and international stakeholders to secure borders, facilitate legitimate trade and support Africa’s economic integration agenda.
Through the CGC Conference and C-PACT 2026, the Service seeks to reinforce accountability for ongoing reforms while advancing practical solutions that connect border security with trade facilitation, technological innovation and safer communities.
The outcomes of both conferences are expected to improve customs operations, strengthen regional cooperation and advance the AfCFTA’s objectives of building a more integrated, competitive and prosperous African market.
