After years of paralysis, the trade corridor linking northern Nigeria to Cameroon’s Far North has reached a genuine turning point. Improved security along the route has allowed convoys to roll again, customs offices to reopen, and a once-dormant economic lifeline to pulse back to life.
A line of heavy trucks from Nigeria sits on both sides of the sandy track that connects Africa’s economic giant to Cameroon. These convoys were once prime targets for Boko Haram. That threat has eased, according to Aboubacar Mahamed, a Nigerian driver hauling sacks of millet toward N’Djamena, Chad. “From Nigeria, from Kano through Maiduguri, from Maiduguri to Banki and into Kourgui, we had no problems. Security is there from Kourgui to Amchidé and Yagoua — no trouble on the road.”
Even with the corridor now guarded, Mahamed says timing still matters: “Cameroonian soldiers from the Rapid Intervention Battalion are putting in serious effort, but for us, if the truck breaks down between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., it’s better to spend the night in that village or in the bush,” he explains. “Around 6 a.m. the next day you can start moving. It’s better to roll from 6 a.m. and park around 5 p.m.”
A lifeline route that keeps the region fed and supplied
To reach Kourgui, these drivers pass through Limani, the main customs office on the Cameroonian side. Shut down in 2014 because of Boko Haram’s violence, it reopened seven years ago.
Célestin Delanga, a specialist on Lake Chad Basin security issues at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), stresses how much the resumed exchanges matter: “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. Better traffic, combined with a stronger security setup along cross-border trade routes, is helping to revive commercial exchanges.”
Communities long battered by Boko Haram’s attacks are also reaping the benefits of this economic rebound. For Delanga, cross-border trade now plays a vital role in a region facing fresh climate shocks. “Two years ago, floods destroyed crops and livelihoods. This year, drought is crippling the rainy season, so cross-border trade is a kind of lifeline,” he says.
The uptick in commerce has pushed customs revenue ambitions to 741 billion CFA francs for the first nine months of 2026. In 2023, that figure stood at just one billion CFA francs.