The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said on Friday that Nigeria is collaborating with the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, Afreximbank, and the World Customs Organisation to host a roundtable of African customs chiefs in Abuja.

He also noted that the Intra-African Trade Fair 2027 in Lagos would provide a platform to showcase Nigeria’s economic strength.

On the same day, leaders including Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew, Finance Minister Wale Edun, Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, and Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal praised the wide-reaching socio-economic contributions of Dangote Industries Limited across Africa.

Speaking on Arise Television, Adeniyi explained that the meeting seeks to develop practical solutions, harmonize continental initiatives, and utilize WCO tools and instruments to achieve seamless trade facilitation across Africa.

He emphasized that Africa must harness the potential of its youth, describing the demographic dividend as the continent’s “secret weapon.”

According to him, the young and increasingly skilled population offers fresh perspectives and digital-native approaches to export markets.

He therefore urged deliberate efforts to craft export strategies centered on youth engagement and to establish pathways that enable young entrepreneurs to access global markets with greater ease.

He said, “Creating dedicated pathways and support systems to harness this proven competitive advantage is essential for Africa.”

The CGC added that the Nigeria Customs Service is taking deliberate measures to lower the cost of doing business at the country’s ports by streamlining processes and enhancing trade facilitation to drive exports and strengthen economic competitiveness.

He stressed the need to tackle the challenges facing exporters, especially small-scale operators, in order to fully unlock Nigeria’s trade potential.

Adeniyi said, “It’s important from the statistics that we’ve put out there and shared by virtually every stakeholder in Nigeria, our percentage, our volume of people in Africa is still low and exports from all of these African countries will drive big volumes.

“So, it is very obvious that we are not doing well enough and a number of challenges have been identified. Part of them is the processes at our ports,” he said.