Colonel Raouf Malèhossou ABOUDOU and the Comptroller General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi are committed to building an intelligent, interconnected and better adapted border for cross-border trade.

On Friday, September 11, 2026, the Joint Control Station of Sèmè-Kraké hosted the launch ceremony of the pilot project to modernize the border between Benin and Nigeria. The event was marked by the presence of the Comptroller General of Nigerian Customs and the Director General of Customs of Benin, Colonel Raouf Malèhossou ABOUDOU.

This joint initiative aims to transform the Sèmè-Kraké CCP into an intelligent border, based on the interconnection of customs systems, secure data sharing and coordination of control procedures. It is part of the trade facilitation momentum of the African Free Trade Area, ECOWAS and the various regional trade integration programmes.

Towards real-time data exchange

At the heart of the device is the CDES (Customs Declarations Exchange System) interoperability engine. This solution will allow Customs Webb, the computer system of the Benin Customs, and the Nigerian Customs Office, Odogwu, to automatically exchange information on commercial transactions. An export declaration made in the country of departure can thus be used to pre-fill the manifest and declaration of import into the country of destination.
However, each administration will retain its sovereign powers in the areas of risk assessment, duty and tax liquidation and release decisions.

A strategic modernization programme

The aim of the project is to significantly reduce the time spent on goods at the border, currently estimated at between 12 and 36 hours, to less than three hours. It also plans to increase the pre-processing rate to more than 80 per cent, to limit physical controls through risk analysis-based targeting and to remove manual data collection.
« What we are trying to achieve here is that this border crossing is treated as a strategic modernization programme and not as a series of isolated repairs. »said Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
The objective is to build a border crossing based on the interconnection of customs systems, joint risk management, coordination of controls, security of infrastructure and a clearly established common governance.
The modernisation includes the reactivation of scanners and other essential equipment, the strengthening of access control, monitoring and lighting and the adoption of harmonised bilingual operational procedures.
Eventually, the Sèmè-Kraké experience could serve as a model for the modernization of other border crossings within ECOWAS and on the African continent.
Reducing delays and constraints for users
The Director-General of Customs of Benin stressed the concrete benefits of CDES for economic operators, travellers and other users of the corridor.
« One of the main advantages of this platform is that it will reduce user constraints and allow both customs administrations to access in real time the information reported by operators. », explained Colonel Raouf Malèhossou ABOUDOU.
In his view, the interconnection of systems will also promote coordinated risk management in accordance with the principles promoted by the World Customs Organisation.
The Director-General stressed the need to closely involve cross-border trade actors in the implementation of the project.
The success of the project will thus have to be measured by its effects on the ground: reducing transit times, eliminating repetitive formalities, improving transparency and faster processing of goods between Cotonou and Lagos.

A cooperation based on the Beitbridge experience

The Sèmè-Kraké project draws on the lessons learned from an assessment mission to Beitbridge, a border crossing between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Colonel Raouf Malèhossou ABOUDOU recalled that the visit, carried out with his Nigerian and Cameroonian counterparts, enabled them to observe a model characterized by better coordination of administrations, more efficient management of human and material resources and a genuine interconnection of customs systems.
« We have observed better coordination and good communication between customs systems. We then understood the need to reproduce a device similar to Sèmè-Kraké. », he said.

Special attention to women traders

The programme also includes a special scheme for small businesses operating along the corridor. This component aims to facilitate the integration of women traders into the formal circuit and to reduce delays, harassment, extortion and other difficulties encountered at borders.

With the launch of the CDES, Beninese and Nigerian customs are taking a decisive step in the transformation of the Sèmè-Kraké corridor. Under the leadership of Colonel Raouf Malèhossou ABOUDOU and comptroller General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the two administrations have a common ambition: to build a more fluid, transparent and secure border, serving cross-border trade, revenue mobilization and regional economic integration.