Since 2019, cross-border commerce has gradually resumed between northern Nigeria and Cameroon’s Far North region. Improved security along the corridor has allowed transporters to return to the roads, reigniting customs revenue and prompting fresh debate about what comes next.
A convoy of heavy trucks from Nigeria sits idle on both sides of the sandy track that links Africa’s economic giant to Cameroon. Such convoys were once prime targets for Boko Haram attacks. The situation has changed, according to Aboubacar Mahamed, a Nigerian driver hauling sacks of millet toward N’Djamena, Chad. “From Nigeria, from Kano through Maiduguri, then Maiduguri to Banki to enter Kourgui, we had no problem,” he says. “There is security from Kourgui to Amchidé and Yagoua—no trouble on the road.”
Despite the improved security, Aboubacar Mahamed notes that timing still matters. “Cameroonian soldiers from the Rapid Intervention Battalion are making great efforts, but for us, if the truck breaks down between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., it’s better to spend the night in this village or in the bush,” he explains. “Around 6 a.m. the next day, you can start again. It’s better to start moving from 6 a.m. and park around 5 p.m.”
Why this corridor has become a lifeline for local communities
To reach Kourgui, these truckers pass through Limani, the main customs office on the Cameroonian side. Closed in 2014 due to Boko Haram violence, it reopened seven years ago.
Célestin Delanga, a security specialist for the Lake Chad basin at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), highlights the significance of renewed trade between the two countries. “Cameroon exports food crops and livestock to Nigeria, and imports fuel, textiles, electronics and spare parts, among other goods,” the researcher lists. “This helps ensure economic security. The improvement in traffic, combined with a stronger security presence along cross-border trade routes, is helping to revitalize commercial exchanges.”
Communities long battered by Boko Haram are also reaping the benefits of this economic uptick. For Célestin Delanga, cross-border trade now plays an essential role in a region facing new climate challenges. “Two years ago, floods destroyed crops and livelihoods; this year, drought is crippling the rainy season,” he says. “Cross-border trade is a kind of lifeline.”
The trade improvement has pushed customs revenue ambitions to 741 billion CFA francs for the first nine months of 2026. That figure stood at just one billion CFA francs in 2023.
As the corridor regains momentum, questions remain about whether the security gains can be sustained and how the economic recovery will shape the lives of those who depend on it.
