Nigeria targets an export market of up to $79bn through the expansion of her export capacity with the African Continental Free Trade Area framework.
Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said this on Thursday at a high-level roundtable on the country’s implementation of the AfCFTA protocols in Abuja, featuring AfCFTA Secretariat’s Secretary General Wamkele Mene.
Oduwole praised Nigeria’s participation in the development of AfCFTA and leadership in the implementation of the trade agreement.
Addressing the SG of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Mene, the minister noted Nigeria’s chairing of the Negotiating Forum that delivered the AfCFTA and its active engagement in aligning regulatory frameworks with AfCFTA protocols on investment, digital trade, intellectual property rights, and competition policy.
The minister listed anticipated benefits of AfCFTA to the country’s economy, including “an estimated 15-17 per cent increased growth in gross domestic product, creation of 11 million new jobs across sectors, and expansion of export capacity by at least 15 per cent, amounting to $79bn in increased exports.”
The conversation between the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment centred on potentials and achievements in digital trade and trade in goods and services.
According to Oduwole, “Nigeria is a leader in digital trade within AfCFTA, (having achieved) the launch of the Technology Export and Digital Trade
Desk developed a digital economy and e-governance bill to address electronic communications and signatures and ran initiatives like the National Talent Export Programme and Outsource to Nigeria Initiative.
She also mentioned the government digital tech and creative entrepreneurship programme, known as the ‘Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises’ and the ‘3 Million Tech Talent Programme,’ and more as efforts to close knowledge gaps in the digital ecosystem.”
“There is compelling data on Nigeria’s digital economy,” Oduwole added. “Information Communication Technology sector contributing 20 per cent to GDP (Q2 2024), e-commerce spending projected to reach $75bn by 2025 and digital trade revenue growth from $5.09bn in 2019 to a projected $18.3bn in 2026.”
Further, Oduwole emphasised that the country has been updating its trade policy to align with AfCFTA objectives.
She highlighted that Nigeria has submitted its Schedule of Tariffs and Services, enhanced private sector engagement to foster readiness for intra-African trade opportunities, and assumed a positive approach to trade facilitation and ease of doing business.
Oduwole stressed the need to partner and collaborate with the AfCFTA Secretariat and other relevant stakeholders, noting, “I would like to emphasise the importance of partnerships with stakeholders such as Afreximbank and the launch of the $1bn Automobile Industry Facility Fund to support industrialisation efforts.
“I call for continued dialogue and capacity building to ensure inclusivity and the successful implementation of the AfCFTA.”
She urged stakeholders, including private sector leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs, to collaborate on removing barriers to trade and boosting competitiveness and invest in digital and physical infrastructure to support trade and expand opportunities for women, youth, and small and medium enterprises to participate in regional markets.
Oduwole hailed the leadership of the AFCFTA Secretariat SG under Mene-led for advancing the AfCFTA framework and commended his efforts in implementing critical protocols, particularly on digital trade.
