Brussels: The World Customs Organisation (WCO) has issued a warning to African customs administrations, highlighting the mounting challenges they face due to political pressures, rising consumer expectations, and increasingly complex global supply chains. This call for action underscores the urgent need for modernisation and strategic trade management to ensure the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to News Agency of Nigeria, speaking at the Customs-Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) conference, themed ‘Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges,’ WCO Secretary General Ian Saunders addressed Africa’s trade challenges. He emphasised that trade facilitation and regional integration are crucial drivers for the continent’s economic growth.
In his keynote speech, titled ‘Global Customs Modernisation: The African Opportunity,’ Saunders pointed out that Africa’s customs challenges are exacerbated by infrastructure gaps, limited border management capacity, and logistical difficulties across numerous landlocked and fragile countries. He explained, ‘In Africa, inadequate infrastructure, complex transit procedures, multiple landlocked countries, and fragile borders make trade facilitation particularly challenging, demanding coordinated customs strategies, innovative approaches, and strong security measures to overcome operational obstacles.’
Despite these challenges, Saunders noted that customs administrations have shown resilience, adaptability, and consistent efficiency in managing cross-border trade across the continent’s diverse environments. He stressed that customs modernisation is critical to the success of AfCFTA, which depends on streamlined processes, coordinated enforcement, and advanced technology to enhance regional commerce.
‘The realities of international trade and the ambitions of AfCFTA make modernising customs systems, processes, and governance essential to achieving smoother, faster, and more predictable cross-border transactions across Africa,’ Saunders stated. He added that this modernisation requires the right partnerships among stakeholders, processes, and technology, enabling customs administrations to facilitate trade efficiently while meeting regulatory, security, and economic goals.
Saunders highlighted that improved processes, digital platforms, and stronger collaborations lay the foundation for modernisation, supporting efficiency-driven operations, data-informed decision-making, coordinated enforcement, robust cybersecurity, and enhanced public-private sector cooperation. ‘Maximising trade opportunities requires collaboration among customs authorities, trade policymakers, political leaders, and other government agencies responsible for border clearance and facilitation,’ he said, underscoring the need for collective action.
He also noted the private sector’s role, recognising that traders, service providers, and market actors supply the goods, services, and options critical to meeting trade expectations and promoting regional economic growth. Such collaboration, Saunders explained, creates a healthier trade ecosystem, leveraging shared information, expertise, and resources to make border management more comprehensive, effective, and coherent across Africa.
True customs modernisation, Saunders elaborated, requires investment in digital infrastructure, basic data processing systems, and advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and analytics, to enhance operational efficiency and informed decision-making. ‘It involves building IT systems capable of capturing all border transaction data through integrated single-window systems, improving efficiency, transparency, and predictability for cross-border trade operations across multiple jurisdictions,’ he said.
He further emphasised the importance of cybersecurity in protecting systems and ensuring the integrity of trade data, which underpins risk-based decision-making, compliance, and effective customs management. Effective facilitation, Saunders added, depends on advanced measures such as pre-submission of information, risk assessment methodologies, post-clearance audits, advance rulings, and consistent origin-certification procedures to enable predictable, compliant trade.
Saunders concluded by stating that the C-PACT conference provides Africa with an opportunity to break down barriers, build bridges, and collectively advance regional economic integration and stronger participation in global trade.