The Nigeria Customs Service and Benin Republic Customs Administration have concluded plans to transform the Sèmè–Kraké joint border post into a technology driven facility designed to facilitate seamless cross border trade and strengthen coordinated border management.

The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Friday, September 11, 2026, during a joint Nigeria Benin Republic One Stop Border Post assessment and commissioning at Seme.

The exercise was tagged, “Leveraging the Nigeria Customs Service Trade Modernisation Project To Advance Seamless Cross Border Trade and Shared Prosperity.”

Adeniyi said the project would be treated as a strategic border modernisation programme rather than a series of isolated repairs, with emphasis on Customs interconnectivity, joint risk management, coordinated enforcement, secure infrastructure, harmonised procedures and accountable joint governance.

“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,” he said.

He said the existing facility already had key physical infrastructure, including lanes, parking areas, offices, a weigh bridge and scanner housing, but the two Customs administrations were yet to operate on a fully integrated system.

“Without interconnectivity, this is not a joint border post. It is two border posts sharing a car park,” Adeniyi said.

According to him, the NCS was working to close the systems gap through a common data exchange arrangement with Benin Customs, which would allow declarations lodged on one side to be visible to the other in real time.

He added that the system would facilitate the tracking of transit cargo from origin to destination and ensure that risk profiles and enforcement alerts generated by one administration reached its counterpart while they remained useful.

Adeniyi said the modernisation programme would also involve restoring scanning capability, strengthening access control, surveillance and lighting, as well as establishing a standing Nigeria Benin enforcement and intelligence mechanism.

He called for harmonised bilingual standard operating procedures covering cargo, passengers, inspection, transit and incident escalation, alongside joint risk management and a properly empowered joint management structure for shared infrastructure.

The Director General of Benin Customs, Col. Raouf Malehossou Aboudou, commended Nigeria for the initiative, saying closer integration of trade processes between both countries would support economic growth across the sub region.

Aboudou also commended Adeniyi for his pragmatic approach to strengthening cross border trade and Customs cooperation between Nigeria and Benin Republic.

He said the implementation of a joint One Stop Border Post would reduce the stress associated with cross border movement for traders, travellers and other stakeholders while improving the efficiency of Customs operations.

The Benin Customs chief said the initiative would also promote coordinated risk management, one of the core principles of the World Customs Organisation.

“The CGC is someone very pragmatic and committed to operations. They visited Zimbabwe to see how One Stop Border Posts work there.

“To have a joint border post reduces stress for stakeholders, travellers and everyone that uses it. It gives birth to coordinated risk management, which is one of the core principles of the WCO.

“When there is smooth movement, stakeholders enjoy it, and when it is not smooth, they suffer it,” he said.

Aboudou stressed that closer cooperation between the two Customs administrations was essential to ensuring the seamless movement of legitimate goods and people across the Nigeria Benin border.

The joint assessment formed part of efforts by both countries to deepen regional economic integration, harmonise cross border procedures, reduce trade barriers and facilitate legitimate trade.

The Sèmè–Kraké One Stop Border Post is expected to strengthen coordination between border agencies in both countries through joint processing and reduced duplication of controls and procedures.

Adeniyi said the crossing was located on the Abidjan Lagos Corridor, which carries about 70 per cent of the sub region’s transit trade.

He described Sèmè–Kraké as one of the busiest land crossings in West Africa and, by many accounts, on the African continent.

“It operates around the clock, every day of the year. A corridor of that weight does not fail quietly. Every hour lost at this gate is multiplied across thousands of consignments and tens of thousands of travelers, and is paid for in the price of goods in markets from Cotonou to Lagos.

“Conversely, an hour saved here is saved for the whole region. There are few places on this continent where the ratio between effort and effect is as favourable as it is at this crossing,” he stated.

The Customs boss said joint risk management was needed to ensure that resources were concentrated on high risk consignments.

He added that the progress would be documented with counterparts from Cameroon, Benin and Nigeria in Abuja in November 2026 during the opening of CPAT 2026.

Adeniyi thanked the Government of the Republic of Benin, the ECOWAS Commission, the European Union, the AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank for their contributions to the development of the border post and ongoing efforts to strengthen regional trade.