The Nigeria Customs Service and the Customs Administration of the Republic of Benin have called for stronger cooperation and improved technology at the Seme-Krake border to facilitate faster and more efficient cross-border trade.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, made the call during a joint assessment of the Nigeria-Benin Republic One Stop Border Post at the Seme-Krake border.
Adeniyi said regulatory agencies on both sides of the border must develop greater trust and coordinate their operations if traders were expected to conduct transactions across borders with confidence.
He noted that modern technology could help eliminate barriers arising from differences in language and currency between traders from both countries.
He said, “If traders can trust themselves, then those of us that have regulated the trade should be able to trust and focus and trust in ourselves.”
According to the Customs boss, improved digital connectivity would allow declarations, transit information and other relevant trade data to be exchanged between the two countries in real time.
He explained that the proposed system would enable a declaration submitted on one side of the border to become visible to officials on the other side, while also allowing transit consignments to be monitored from their point of origin to their destination.
Adeniyi said, “There is still no seamless real-time exchange of declarations, manifests, transit information, risk profiles or enforcement alerts between us. In plain terms, without interconnectivity, this is not a joint border post.”
He further advocated the harmonisation of certain trade regulations, including prohibited goods lists, arguing that stronger cooperation would make enforcement more effective.
The NCS chief disclosed that efforts were already underway to connect the customs administrations of both countries through a common data exchange system, building on their experience with regional transit operations.
He also identified infrastructure and security gaps requiring urgent attention, including the restoration of scanning facilities, improved lighting and surveillance, and stronger access-control measures.
According to him, restoring scanning capabilities would reduce the need for physical examination of every consignment and allow officers to rely more on technology-driven inspection.
Adeniyi also called for the establishment of a joint Nigeria-Benin enforcement and intelligence mechanism to support coordinated patrols and rapid responses to security concerns along the border.
He stressed the need for bilingual standard operating procedures covering cargo handling, passenger movement, inspection, transit operations and incident management.
The Customs chief also proposed joint risk-management procedures that would enable authorities to focus resources on high-risk consignments rather than subjecting every shipment to the same level of scrutiny.
He said the Seme-Krake crossing should be developed as a comprehensive border-modernisation project rather than being treated as a collection of individual repair works.
“What we seek to achieve here is that Sèmè–Kraké be treated as a strategic border modernisation programme, and not as a series of isolated repairs,” Adeniyi said.
He added that the goal was to establish a technology-enabled joint border post based on customs interconnectivity, coordinated enforcement, joint risk management, secure infrastructure and harmonised procedures.
Earlier, the Director General of Customs Administration of the Republic of Benin, Col. Raouf Malehossou Aboudou, reaffirmed Benin’s commitment to improving the ease of doing business and facilitating legitimate trade at the border.
