The AfCFTA Secretariat is working to connect national customs systems through continental digital platforms to cut border delays. Chawki Jabbali, head of its Customs Capacity Building and Training Division, said on the AfCFTA Podcast that the issue is now less about digitalising procedures and more about interoperability: “The issue is not about digitalizing the procedures. It’s about interoperability and interconnection of systems.”

Planned work includes a continental platform for electronic certificates of origin that would link existing national systems, digital transit procedures drawing on the regional economic communities, and alignment of data standards with the World Customs Organization. Jabbali also named two obstacles: some officials fear automation will affect their jobs, and funding is limited.

Jabbali said some countries already have digital customs platforms, but those platforms cannot yet exchange information with their neighbors’ systems. That is why the Secretariat is looking at continental platforms that link existing systems and help countries set one up where none exists. A further aim is to make preferential trade arrangements more consistent from one border to the next.

He said governments recognize that digitalization can reduce delays and potential corruption, and argued that they should weigh the wider economic effects of modernizing customs, while acknowledging that some individuals could be negatively affected. With funding limited, the Secretariat plans to work through existing institutions and the experience of the regional economic communities rather than build from scratch. For Nigerian traders, the practical test will be whether a certificate of origin issued at home is accepted electronically at a neighboring border, without re-keying or paper copies.

Source: The High Street Journal, 16 October 2026

Link: https://thehighstreetjournal.com/afcfta-pushes-to-link-customs-systems/