The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), in collaboration with the AfCFTA Central Coordination Committee (CCC), is set to work with state governments to identify at least one exportable product from each Local Government Area (LGA) across the country as part of efforts to deepen Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The initiative forms a key pillar of Nigeria’s AfCFTA agenda for 2026, as outlined in the Nigeria AfCFTA Achievements Report 2025 released by the ministry on Thursday. It is aimed at mobilising AfCFTA-Inclined production and trade nationwide, while ensuring inclusive participation at sub-national levels.
According to the report, FMITI will partner with the Nigerian Governors Forum and state governments to drive a nationwide AfCFTA awareness and sensitisation campaign, targeting public institutions, the private sector and local communities.
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The campaign is designed to demystify AfCFTA opportunities and position Nigerian producers to take advantage of the continent-wide market.
By identifying export-ready products in every LGA, the ministry aims to unlock Nigeria’s diverse production base, promote value addition, and integrate local producers into regional and continental value chains under the AfCFTA framework.
In addition, FMITI said investment mobilisation efforts, both domestic and foreign will prioritise the rapid expansion of productive capacity in key sectors with strong export potential. These efforts are expected to support industrial growth, improve competitiveness, and strengthen Nigeria’s role in intra-African trade.
The ministry also noted that the broader objective is to position Nigeria as an innovation, production and distribution hub within the AfCFTA market, leveraging its large domestic market, entrepreneurial base and expanding industrial capacity.
According to the ministry, the AfCFTA agenda for 2026 builds on milestones achieved in 2025, which have positioned the country as ready, equipped and prepared to trade under the preferential terms of the AfCFTA.
FMITI noted that Nigeria has fulfilled key obligations under the AfCFTA Agreement and its Protocols on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services and Digital Trade through the gazetting and ratification of relevant legal instruments.
In trade in goods, Nigeria gazetted its Provisional Schedule of Tariff Concessions in April 2025, enabling the application of preferential and reduced tariffs on goods originating in Africa. As a result, Nigerian-made products now enjoy similar preferential treatment in other AfCFTA State Parties that have gazetted their tariff schedules.
To further position Nigerian exporters, FMITI launched a dedicated exports air cargo corridor to East and Southern Africa in partnership with Uganda Airlines and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), offering cargo rates that are 50 to 75 per cent cheaper than prevailing market rates. The ministry also published, in collaboration with UNDP, a market intelligence tool covering cosmetics, agro-processed products and textiles across 13 East and Southern African markets.
In the area of trade in services, Nigeria submitted its Schedule of Specific Commitments to the ECOWAS Commission in October 2025, covering over 90 services across the AfCFTA’s five priority sectors of business, communication, financial, transport and tourism services. The schedule is expected to be forwarded to the African Union in 2026, paving the way for Nigerian service suppliers to benefit from preferential treatment across the continent.
Nigeria also advanced its digital trade agenda in 2025 with the approval of the ratification of the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade. As part of this effort, FMITI conducted the country’s first national mapping of digital services, creating a directory of over 200 Nigerian digital firms across 17 sectors with interest in expanding into African markets, particularly Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. This mapping informed Nigeria’s hosting of the first AfCFTA Regional Digital Trade Market Access and Regulators Roundtable in October 2025.
Looking ahead, FMITI said investment mobilisation, both domestic and foreign will prioritise the rapid expansion of productive capacity in key sectors to support the LGA-level export initiative. The overall goal, the ministry said, is to position Nigeria as an innovation, production and distribution hub within the AfCFTA market, while ensuring inclusive growth and broad-based participation in intra-African trade.
