The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission convened a consultation meeting on June 16, 2025, in Abuja, Nigeria. The meeting focused on enhancing the operations of the Sèmè-Kraké juxtaposed checkpoint, which lies on the border between Benin and Nigeria. This initiative aims to bolster the free movement of people and goods while fostering economic integration and facilitating regional trade.
Participants at the meeting reviewed several documents to improve the checkpoint’s functionality. These included a bilateral agreement signed on May 12, 2022, in Cotonou by both nations regarding operational responsibilities and management. They also examined a manual outlining operating procedures for the Sèmè-Kraké infrastructure.
Discussions extended to other facets such as management, financing, interconnectivity, facilities and equipment, as well as infrastructure conditions and services at the checkpoint. The agenda also covered facilitation measures for controls along the Lagos-Sèmè corridor—a key route in West Africa—and insights from a working visit to Sèmè-Kraké made by Dr Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, along with Beninese and Nigerian authorities on May 7, 2025.
The session was co-chaired by Chris Appiah, Director of Transport for ECOWAS Commission, alongside Ambassador Musah Sani Nuhu, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to ECOWAS.
The Sèmè-Kraké juxtaposed checkpoint was inaugurated on October 23, 2018, by then-Presidents Patrice Talon of Benin and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. It is part of ECOWAS’s Regional Transport Facilitation Programme adopted during their 26th Conference held in Dakar in 2003.
Located approximately thirty kilometers from Cotonou—Benin’s economic hub—the checkpoint facilitates border formalities between Benin and Nigeria under a regional protocol supporting free movement within West Africa. Strategically placed on the Abidjan-Lagos corridor—which handles 70% of transit trade across West Africa—the corridor forms an essential segment of Africa’s transcontinental road network.