The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have expressed interest in forging a partnership to combat illicit trade by strengthening border control and intelligence sharing between the two countries.
The organisations expressed this interest during a visit by NCS Comptroller-General Bashir Adeniyi to GRA Commissioner-General Anthony Sarpong at the GRA headquarters on Monday in Accra.
Speaking during the visit, Sarpong urged Nigeria and Ghana to strengthen intelligence sharing and harmonise customs procedures to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
Represented by Brig.-Gen. Glover Annan, Commissioner of the Customs Division at GRA, Sarpong said the partnership was crucial for promoting best practices in trade operations while upholding integrity and excellence.
He added that the NCS had continued to inspire Ghana’s vision and innovation in customs operations.
Sarpong described Adeniyi’s visit as necessary to galvanise support for the Customs-Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) conference scheduled to hold in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the C-PACT initiative, conceived by the NCS in collaboration with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), will hold its conference in Abuja from Nov. 17 to Nov. 19.
Supported by the World Customs Organisation (WCO), C-PACT aims to set new standards for cross-border cooperation and trade facilitation by establishing a transparent and agile customs framework that promotes lawful trade and sustainable economic growth.
“Your visit today also reflects the strong and enduring bond between Ghana and Nigeria.
“Our nations are united by history, culture, and a shared vision to strengthen customs operations,” Sarpong said.
In his remarks, Adeniyi noted that criminal elements were exploiting gaps in Africa’s customs administrations to perpetrate illicit trade, requiring concerted efforts to address.
He said Ghana and Nigeria could review their previous agreement on joint customs operations to align with current realities in the sector and enhance trade facilitation.
“Back then in 2001, we actually signed the document bringing our two customs administrations together.
“It would be my wish that we take a second look at the document and see how we can breathe more life into it and seek further areas where we can collaborate.
“I was in the Netherlands last week, and our colleagues in customs told me about how criminals are now exploiting the gaps between customs administrations in our region.
“They use these gaps as avenues of evil to transport dangerous drugs into the Netherlands, which is seen as a gateway into Europe.”
“So, the more we work together and more closely in exchanging intelligence, building capacity, the more we will be able to forge a stronger bond against these criminals, he said.
He said his visit to the GRA`s boss was to seek his support for the success of the C-PACT conference.
He added that it was also to explore strategies on how best customs administrations could play their role in increasing trade volumes in Africa under the framework of the AfCFTA.
“The mission is for us to see how better customs can play its role as the major promoter of AfCFTA.
We want to increase the volume of trade that we do in Africa. We want trade to be a source of economic growth and prosperity for the people of Africa.
“We have very big markets. We have potentials to do it, and we have been identified as the largest continental bloc, he said.
