The Nigeria Customs Service and Cameroon Customs Administration have commenced a joint assessment of the Ekok-Mfum One-Stop Border Post. The assessment aims to remove barriers to cross-border trade and strengthen regional economic integration between Nigeria and Cameroon. The high-level exercise held on Wednesday at Mfum, near Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River, under the theme, “Leveraging the Nigeria Customs Service Trade Modernisation Project.”
Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, said the initiative would build on existing cooperation between both customs administrations. He said the objective was to create a more efficient border management system and facilitate smoother trade across the region. “We are not building from nothing. We are taking something that works between the two of us,” Adeniyi said. He identified AfDB, ECOWAS, ECCAS, Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat as key partners in improving cross-border trade.
Cameroon’s Director-General of Customs, Mr Fongod Nuvaga, described the assessment as the first concrete step towards coordinated operations. He urged both countries to prioritise real-time data sharing and joint risk-management systems to reduce duplication of checks on cargo and travellers. The exercise also featured the launch of the Mfum-Ekok Border Modernisation Initiative, which seeks to deploy technology, upgrade border infrastructure and create an environment conducive to increased trade.
The winners: traders and businesses on both sides of the border, who may benefit from smoother trade; and the Nigerian and Cameroonian economies, which gain from increased integration. The losers: smugglers and those who benefit from inefficiency; and the Nigerian government, which must ensure the initiative is implemented.
Bottom Line: Nigeria and Cameroon are working to improve their border. The goal is smoother trade. The question is whether the initiative will deliver or remain on paper.