The Federal Government on Wednesday called on African nations to remain resilient in the face of retaliatory tariff regimes imposed by global powers, urging a stronger focus on intra-African trade as a path toward collective economic strength.
Speaking at the 4th World Customs Organization Donors Conference for the West and Central Africa Region in Abuja, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, described the newly imposed tariffs particularly those recently announced by U.S. President Donald Trump as a wake-up call for the continent.
“Now, we have the reciprocal tariff regime consequences, which are unfolding and being studied by one and all over the world.
“But this is a lesson for us that we need to trade among ourselves. We need to be resilient,” Edun said.
The conference, themed “The Mobilization of Partners around Priority Projects in the WCO-WCA Region”, brought together stakeholders to discuss emerging threats and opportunities for deeper economic collaboration in the region.
Edun warned that recent international developments including the imposition of tariffs and a marked reduction in U.S. development assistance through USAID carry direct implications for West and Central Africa.
He revealed that eight countries, including Nigeria, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire, now face average tariffs of 13.83% on exports to the U.S.
“Such actions not only increase the cost of our exports but also undermine efforts to boost trade competitiveness and diversify our economies,” he said.
He further highlighted the abrupt withdrawal of international support in health and education sectors, describing it as an additional layer of economic pressure.
These developments, he stressed, make it imperative for African countries to accelerate trade integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), strengthen revenue generation, and build resilient customs institutions.
“It is clear that we can no longer rely exclusively on external support; instead, we must build robust institutions and partnerships that are sustainable, inclusive, and regionally anchored,” Edun cautioned.
He affirmed that the AfCFTA presents a transformative opportunity for the region’s economies, placing greater responsibilities on customs administrations to secure borders, facilitate trade, and generate revenue.
“For our region, this revenue function is particularly vital. In Nigeria, customs collections have traditionally funded up to 15% of the government budget,” Edun said.
He underscored the region’s vast potential, pointing out that West and Central Africa is home to over 450 million people, with a combined GDP exceeding $900 billion, yet intra-regional trade accounts for only 12% of total trade well below Europe’s 60% and East Asia’s 40%.
He also noted that eight landlocked developing countries in the region face nearly double the import costs of coastal nations, and customs processing times average 12 days, far above the global best practice of under 24 hours.
“These statistics highlight both our challenges and our enormous untapped potential. Suffice it is to say that modernizing and harmonizing our customs procedures, we could boost intra-regional trade by an estimated $50 billion annually, create millions of jobs, and significantly reduce poverty across our communities,” he said.
Also speaking at the conference, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, acknowledged that while customs agencies across the region face “substantial” challenges, these are not insurmountable with the right technical support and strategic partnerships.
He identified key obstacles, including inadequate digital infrastructure, weak risk management systems, and limited connectivity between national customs platforms, which restrict effective information sharing.
However, Adeniyi noted that the NCS has made measurable progress through targeted reforms.
According to him, “These interventions have yielded measurable results: reduced clearance times, a 90% increase in revenue collection (exceeding targets by 20%), and improved compliance rates.”
