The African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat has signed a 20-year, $3.1 billion concession agreement with Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited to modernise customs infrastructure across participating African countries.
The customs modernisation agreement establishes a public-private partnership framework for financing and deploying digital and physical border infrastructure, with the broader goal of making customs systems more interoperable, transparent and efficient.
The project will be implemented through consultation with participating AfCFTA State Parties and national customs administrations, meaning the concession creates a continental framework rather than automatically replacing customs systems in every African country.
Key Overview
- Concession value: $3.1 billion.
- Duration: 20 years.
- Private-sector partner: Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited.
- Project: AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project.
- Implementation vehicle: AfriTrade CMP Limited, a Bergmans subsidiary.
- Technology focus: Digital customs systems, border infrastructure, data integration and cargo tracking.
- Strategic goal: Reduce border bottlenecks, strengthen revenue protection and support growth in intra-African trade.
$3.1 Billion Project Moves From Planning to Implementation
The concession follows a memorandum of understanding signed by the AfCFTA Secretariat and Bergmans in July 2026 and moves the initiative from preliminary cooperation towards implementation.
Under the agreement, Bergmans will be responsible for mobilising financing and technical expertise needed to deploy the project. The arrangement is intended to support digitally enabled customs administrations while improving the physical infrastructure required at African borders.
The transaction involves AfCFTA Holdings Limited, the AfCFTA Secretariat and AfriTrade CMP Limited, a subsidiary of Bergmans that is expected to execute the customs programme.
At $3.1 billion, the concession represents a major technology and trade-infrastructure investment linked to implementation of the continent’s free-trade framework.
Connecting Africa’s Fragmented Customs Systems
One of the project’s central objectives is to improve interoperability between customs administrations.
Current border procedures vary considerably between African countries, creating difficulties for companies moving goods through multiple jurisdictions. Different documentation standards, inspection processes and technology platforms can increase clearance times and administrative costs.
The planned system is intended to support the standardisation of cross-border procedures, improve data collection and introduce real-time tracking of goods moving across participating markets.
Reported technology components include non-intrusive cargo inspection systems, integrated data centres and multilingual customs portals, allowing customs authorities to exchange information and process declarations more efficiently.
The wider ambition is to gradually harmonise customs processes without requiring national authorities to abandon their individual legal and administrative responsibilities.
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Nigerian Customs Model Influences Continental Rollout
Bergmans’ involvement is partly linked to its experience with Nigeria’s customs modernisation programme.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said the Nigerian experience helped shape the partnership, citing improvements in cargo clearance, transparency and revenue collection associated with greater use of digital customs technology.
The continental project aims to adapt elements of that model to the significantly more complex task of connecting customs administrations operating under different national systems.
Mene has also argued that excessive reliance on manual customs processes can create opportunities for revenue leakage, corruption, under-invoicing and over-invoicing, making modernisation important not only for trade facilitation but also for government revenue protection.
Customs Reform Targets Faster Intra-African Trade
The agreement comes as African governments seek to increase trade between countries on the continent.
Intra-African trade reached approximately $220 billion in 2024, representing growth of about 12.5% from the previous year, according to figures cited by the AfCFTA Secretariat.
The customs programme is designed to support the AfCFTA’s broader ambition of doubling intra-African trade by 2035 by reducing administrative friction at borders and making it easier for goods to move between member economies.
For businesses, greater interoperability could mean fewer duplicated customs processes, faster cargo clearance and improved visibility over shipments. Governments could meanwhile benefit from more accurate trade data and stronger revenue collection.
National Participation Will Determine the Project’s Reach
Despite its continental scale, implementation will depend heavily on cooperation with individual countries.
The official concession framework specifies that rollout arrangements will be developed with participating State Parties, national customs administrations and other stakeholders.
That distinction is important: the agreement creates the infrastructure and financing framework for a pan-African system, but national adoption, integration and regulatory coordination will ultimately determine how quickly a genuinely interconnected customs network emerges.
If successfully implemented at scale, the project could become a critical technological layer supporting the AfCFTA by turning tariff liberalisation into more efficient movement of physical goods across African borders.
Sources: AfCFTA Secretariat / Reuters / Ecofin Agency / Punch / tralac
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