Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, has reiterated that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) remains Africa's most powerful lever for trade and investment growth, even as the continent continues to face implementation bottlenecks that slow the agreement's real-world impact.
AfCFTA as Africa's Strategic Plan
Speaking at the Biashara Africa Forum in Lome, Togo, Oduwole described AfCFTA as Africa's biggest strategic plan for lifting economies out of poverty and building prosperity amid global uncertainty, shifting trade alignments, and tariff disruptions. Her remarks come as African policymakers and business leaders intensify calls for deeper regional integration, arguing that the continent cannot rely primarily on external markets while intra-African barriers remain entrenched.
Challenges to Implementation
Oduwole stressed that Africa must prioritize Africa but acknowledged practical obstacles undermining regional integration. She lamented a recent incident in Togo where African investors holding ECOWAS passports were refused entry and asked to use foreign passports for visas, calling this unacceptable and reflective of broader continental challenges. For AfCFTA to succeed, implementation must go beyond summit declarations and ministerial communiqués; it must be understood and executed by civil servants, border officials, and agencies responsible for immigration, logistics, and trade administration.
Progress and Barriers for Small Businesses
Pushing back against the suggestion that AfCFTA remains confined to paper, Oduwole noted that trading activity is expanding with measurable gains across sectors. However, she highlighted that if major corporate players like Dangote or Rabiu find it difficult to navigate the continent, barriers facing small and medium enterprises, women, and youth-led businesses are likely much worse. The promise of a single African market depends not only on tariff schedules and high-level protocols but on whether small businesses can access customers, move goods, secure payments, and travel across borders without costly friction.
Nigeria's Role and Priorities
As Nigeria prepares to host the upcoming AfCFTA ministerial meeting, Oduwole said her focus as incoming chair of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers will be centered on implementation. The goal is to move from ambition to practical delivery, with trade facilitation at the top of the agenda. Priorities include smoother movement of goods, stronger market access, integrated regional value chains, private-sector enablement, and digital trade infrastructure. She also stressed the need to mobilize African capital—sovereign wealth funds, pension assets, and other domestic capital—to support continental trade and industrialization, while payment systems must better enable businesses to transact in local currencies.
Conclusion: AfCFTA as a Silver Bullet
Arguing that Nigeria and Africa's best defense and opportunity is greater internal cohesion, Oduwole declared AfCFTA as 'our silver bullet.'
