By Femi Anamelechi
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has unveiled a dedicated facility to take care of the special needs of women engaged in cross-border trade along the Seme-Krake corridor, as part of efforts to promote formal and efficient trade between Nigeria and Benin Republic. The highly commendable facility was commissioned on Friday, 11 September 2026, during a joint assessment visit to the Seme-Krake Border Post by the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi. In this address during a press briefing during the visit, the CGC said women account for more than 70 percent of informal cross-border traders across Africa and often face challenges that discourage them from using formal trade channels. He stated that women operating along the corridor had reportedly experienced harassment, extortion and delays in the course of their activities.“Where a border is slow, opaque, intimidating, complex, and all those difficulties are experienced, the trader with the least capacity to absorb costs is the one driven around it. And once she is driven around it, we lose her twice. She loses the protection of the law, and the state will lose the revenue,” he said.CGC noted that the facility responds to the special needs of women traders operating within the border corridor. “Its purpose is to bring women into the formal trading system on terms that they can actually meet simplified procedures for small consignments, clear published information in the languages traders will understand, accessible points of contact, protection against informal demands, and a channel through which a woman who is badly treated can make her claim.”
Adeniyi stressed that the success of economic integration between Nigeria and Benin should be measured by the efficiency of movement across the border rather than by the number of agreements signed or ceremonial engagements. The Director General of Benin Customs, Raouf Aboudou, commended Nigeria for the initiative, describing closer Customs cooperation as essential to integrating trade within the sub-region and promoting economic growth. He said stronger collaboration between the two Customs administrations would facilitate legitimate trade while simultaneously strengthening controls against illicit activities along the border. As part of the event, the CGC commissioned the dedicated facility for women traders, alongside a newly remodelled sporting facility and a mosque. The ceremony also featured a friendly football match between the Seme Area Command team and Badagry United Football Club, with the Customs team securing a 2-0 victory.
