The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is set to host the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) Conference from 7 to 8 December 2026 and the Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) 2026 Conference from 9 to 11 December 2026 in Abuja.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on 25 October 2026 by the National Public Relations Officer of the Service, Deputy Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, PhD, mnipr, mniia, on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Customs.
According to the statement, the dual conferences are part of the Service’s commitment to strengthening border security, facilitating legitimate trade and advancing regional economic integration.
The CGC’s Conference, themed “Securing Borders, Enabling Trade: A Customs Commitment to Safer Communities,” will provide a platform to review the Service’s modernisation efforts, assess progress against previous commitments, and reinforce the relationship between effective Customs administration, national security, and trade facilitation.
C-PACT 2026, themed “One Border, Interconnected Systems: Advancing Customs Cooperation through One-Stop Border Posts,” will extend discussions to the continental level, focusing on practical approaches to coordinated border management and digital connectivity across Africa.
The CGC’s Conference will bring together government officials, Customs leadership, trade stakeholders and institutional partners to examine progress in modernisation and trade facilitation reforms.
Under the sub-themes “Enabling African Trade: Digital Customs, Trusted Corridors and Seamless Payments” and “Secure Borders, Safer Communities: Intelligence, Partnership and Trust at the Frontline,” the programme will review commitments made in 2025 and results achieved in 2026.
It will also feature presentations on Customs modernisation, Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) certificate presentation, and discussions on measuring the impact of reforms on trade and revenue, as well as intelligence-led enforcement, emerging border threats, inter-agency collaboration, and officers’ professional responsibilities.
A major component will be the examination of how digital transformation and stakeholder partnerships are improving Customs operations. Stakeholders, including AEO beneficiaries, the National Single Window Secretariat, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), excise-sector representatives and other institutions, will assess reform outcomes and identify areas for improvement.
The second day will focus on coordinated responses to converging border threats, bringing together the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), NCS, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Building on the national conference, C-PACT 2026 will provide a continental platform for Customs administrations, policymakers, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Regional Economic Communities, border management agencies, development partners, technology providers and private-sector stakeholders.
The conference will address persistent challenges such as fragmented procedures, duplicated controls, limited information exchange, incompatible digital systems and insufficient coordination among border agencies. It will explore how One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs), supported by interconnected Customs platforms, coordinated risk management and harmonised procedures, can reduce delays, lower trade costs and improve predictability of goods movement.
The C-PACT 2026 programme will feature high-level policy dialogue, technical sessions on connected borders, presentations of operational experiences from OSBPs, technology demonstrations and discussions on public-private partnerships for border infrastructure.
It will focus on implementing AfCFTA initiatives, including the AfCFTA Integrated Transit System, the Single Bond Guarantee Scheme, and the Electronic Certificate of Origin system, and is expected to generate practical recommendations and an implementation roadmap for digitally enabled border systems.
The NCS, under the leadership of CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, reiterated its commitment to strengthening collaboration with national institutions, regional partners and international stakeholders to secure borders, facilitate legitimate trade and support Africa’s economic integration agenda.