# AfCFTA signs $3.1B deal to deploy new customs system — retained record

> Retained news record from news:semafor.

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:semafor)  published 2026-08-10 12:44 ingested 2026-08-11 07:08

[original source ↗](https://www.semafor.com/article/08/10/2026/afcfta-signs-31b-deal-to-deploy-new-customs-system)

## retained text



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The African Continental Free Trade Area signed a $3.1 billion deal with Nigerian company Bergmans Security Consultants to deploy a customs system aimed at improving trade in Africa. Trading under the AfCFTA — the world’s largest free-trade area — started in 2021. Intra-Africa trade has grown since then, rising by 12.5% from 2023 to $220 billion in 2024. But African trade analysts say the pact’s impact remains constrained by several structural and operational challenges. AfCFTA is tasking the Abuja-based Bergmans with creating a system that will make the customs units of member countries interoperable, the trade area’s Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said at the deal’s signing last week.
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