Nigeria’s Intra-Africa Trade Surges to N4.82trn in H1 2025
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday said Nigeria’s trade with other African countries hit N4.82 trillion in the first six months of 2025 from the N600 billion recorded the previous year.
Comptroller- General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi broke the news at the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) in Abuja.
His words: “In the first half of 2025, Nigeria’s trade with other African countries reached N4.82 trillion—an increase of more than N600 billion compared with the previous year.”
He described the transaction as a clear signal of strengthening regional trade momentum.
The Comptroller -General was impressed by the 464 confirmed participants representing 28 countries, including 26 African nations.
He said there were also 10 senior customs officials in the room – Directors General and Commissioners – colleagues leading some of the continent’s most important trade gateways.
According to him, there were 16 diplomatic representatives present, including 5 Ambassadors and several High Commissioners, representing embassies and missions from across Africa.
He said from the private sector – the people whose businesses depend on efficient customs processes, there was an impressive showing: 53 CEOs and 19 Managing Directors.
Describing their commitment, he said, “That’s over 70 senior business leaders who’ve committed their time to making AfCFTA work in practice.”
Adeniyi said within West Africa specifically, Nigeria’s exports to ECOWAS countries have climbed significantly, reflecting our growing role as a hub for intra-continental trade and value chains.
He urged the partners to embrace customs and logistics modernization and implement the AfCFTA framework more deliberately because the partnership is turning the gains into broader regional partnership across Africa markets.
On the C-PACT, Adeniyi said the idea for the event didn’t emerge from a conference room or a policy paper.
He recalled that it came from real observations and real conversations last year in Kigali at the Biashara conference.
He also noted that in Cairo in April at an Afreximbank event, he found himself making the same point to the Secretary General of AfCFTA.
He called for the need to stir the consciousness around the role of acustoms in the AfCFTA ecosystem.
Adeniyi said the agreement is ambitious and necessary, but without customs administrations that are equipped, coordinated, and actively engaged, the stakeholders are building a house without a foundation.
Continuing, he said, “In those discussions with the Secretary-General, a critical point emerged that I believe should frame our work here: customs are the custodians of trade data.
“We hold the most granular, real-time information on what’s actually moving across our borders—what’s being traded, where it’s going, what the values are.
“That data, when properly harnessed and shared, becomes essential intelligence for driving continental trade objectives.
“The Secretary General was emphatic about this: if AfCFTA is to succeed, customs must leverage our unique position as data custodians to better serve the continental agenda.
“These conversations weren’t one-sided. We’ve also been engaging the WCO Secretariat on how best to equip customs on the continent to take up our responsibility in promoting AfCFTA.
“From those exchanges, a consistent theme has emerged—one that I believe is fundamental to our success: the imperative of regional ownership and collective discipline in our approach to AfCFTA implementation. What we do with this continental agreement cannot be driven from Outside the continent; it must be anchored in African realities, led by African institutions, and sustained by African commitment.”
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday said Nigeria’s trade with other African countries hit N4.82 trillion in the first six months of 2025 from the N600 billion recorded the previous year.
Comptroller- General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi broke the news at the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) in Abuja.
His words: “In the first half of 2025, Nigeria’s trade with other African countries reached N4.82 trillion—an increase of more than N600 billion compared with the previous year.”
He described the transaction as a clear signal of strengthening regional trade momentum.
The Comptroller -General was impressed by the 464 confirmed participants representing 28 countries, including 26 African nations.
He said there were also 10 senior customs officials in the room – Directors General and Commissioners – colleagues leading some of the continent’s most important trade gateways.
According to him, there were 16 diplomatic representatives present, including 5 Ambassadors and several High Commissioners, representing embassies and missions from across Africa.
He said from the private sector – the people whose businesses depend on efficient customs processes, there was an impressive showing: 53 CEOs and 19 Managing Directors.
Describing their commitment, he said, “That’s over 70 senior business leaders who’ve committed their time to making AfCFTA work in practice.”
Adeniyi said within West Africa specifically, Nigeria’s exports to ECOWAS countries have climbed significantly, reflecting our growing role as a hub for intra-continental trade and value chains.
He urged the partners to embrace customs and logistics modernization, and implement the AfCFTA framework more deliberately because the partnership is turning the gains into broader regional partnership across Africa markets.
On the C-PACT, Adeniyi said the idea for the event didn’t emerge from a conference room or a policy paper.
He recalled that it came from real observations and real conversations last year in Kigali at the Biashara conference.
He also noted that in Cairo in April at an Afreximbank event, he found himself making the same point to the Secretary General of AfCFTA.
He called for the need to stir the consciousness around the role of acustoms in the AfCFTA ecosystem.
Adeniyi said the agreement is ambitious and necessary, but without customs administrations that are equipped, coordinated, and actively engaged, the stakeholders are building a house without a foundation.
Continuing, he said, “In those discussions with the Secretary-General, a critical point emerged that I believe should frame our work here: customs are the custodians of trade data.
“We hold the most granular, real-time information on what’s actually moving across our borders—what’s being traded, where it’s going, what the values are.
“That data, when properly harnessed and shared, becomes essential intelligence for driving continental trade objectives.
“The Secretary General was emphatic about this: if AfCFTA is to succeed, customs must leverage our unique position as data custodians to better serve the continental agenda.
“These conversations weren’t one-sided. We’ve also been engaging the WCO Secretariat on how best to equip customs on the continent to take up our responsibility in promoting AfCFTA. “From those exchanges, a consistent theme has emerged—one that I believe is fundamental to our success: the imperative of regional ownership and collective discipline in our approach to AfCFTA implementation. What we do with this continental agreement cannot be driven from Outside the continent; it must be anchored in African realities, led by African institutions, and sustained by African commitment.”