Afreximbank Backs Digital Customs Platform With $29m Guarantee For East Africa
By Sunday Etuka
The African Export-Import Bank has issued a US$29 million guarantee to BSMART Technology Ltd, backing the scale-up of the EAC Customs Bond, a digital customs guarantee system designed to speed the movement of goods across East African borders.
The facility is meant to strengthen the financial backbone of the EAC Customs Bond and support its rollout as part of a broader shift toward a more integrated, digitized customs environment. It will allow BSMART Technology to deepen implementation of the Bond and drive greater uptake in the market.
The support extends Afreximbank’s partnership with the East African Community Secretariat, which dates back to the Bond’s pilot phase in August 2025 and its formal launch at the Heads of State Summit in March 2026.
The Bank has led this work through its African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme, which develops regional customs guarantee and digital tools to ease intra-African trade.
Afreximbank views the EAC Customs Bond as a major step toward simplifying and digitizing customs across the region.
The platform lets clearing and forwarding agents, guarantors and customs authorities access customs bonds digitally, cutting reliance on paperwork and removing the need to file physical bond documents at every border crossing.
By reinforcing the financial infrastructure behind the digital customs system, the new guarantee is expected to widen adoption of the EAC Customs Bond, improve access to capacity, reduce paperwork, and speed cross-border trade, while advancing the wider push to boost intra-African commerce through greater digitization.
Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development, said the facility reflects the Bank’s commitment to practical solutions that lower barriers to intra-African trade.
She said the Bond helps digitize and simplify access to customs guarantees for businesses moving goods regionally, cutting costs and improving efficiency, and noted it reinforces the Bank’s AACTGS programme and its ties with the EAC Secretariat and regional bodies, all in line with Afreximbank’s mandate to support the AfCFTA and African market integration.
Stephen Teang, Managing Director of BSMART Technology Ltd, said the facility supports the company’s growth plans and reflects confidence in the EAC Bond, thanking Afreximbank for its partnership.
The EAC Secretariat piloted the Customs Bond in Uganda in 2025 before Rwanda and Burundi joined in January 2026, ahead of its official launch at the 25th Summit of Heads of State in March 2026.
The platform allows agents moving goods across multiple countries to do so digitally rather than submitting physical documents at each border post, cutting red tape and reducing delays.
