Nigeria’s duty-free access to the United States (US) under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is facing fresh pressure, with copyright policy now emerging as a potential trade risk.
As Washington considers a three-year extension of AGOA, following the passage of the bill by the House onto the Senate, Nigeria is at risk of being flagged over claims that its copyright laws and enforcement regime continue to allow large-scale piracy.
The concern was raised in a formal submission to the US Trade Representative by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), which represents more than 3,200 American companies across film, music, publishing and software.
The group said Nigeria’s framework fails to provide what it described as ‘adequate and effective’ intellectual property protection of both US creative exports and Nigeria’s own creative economy, a core requirement for AGOA eligibility.
That assessment lands awkwardly for a country whose creative sector is both large and export-facing. Nollywood is the second most prolific film industry in the world by output, yet piracy continues to strip value from the market.
Data cited by the alliance from the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), the copyright regulator, estimates that Nigeria loses about $3 billion annually to digital piracy, while the World Bank figures suggest nine in 10 films sold locally are pirated.
Nigeria has enacted reforms aimed at addressing these gaps. It ratified the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Internet Treaties in 2017, and the Copyright Act passed in 2022, which took effect in 2023, strengthened online rights and introduced court-backed website blocking.
According to the alliance, however, several provisions of the law undercut those gains by creating uncertainty for rights holders and investors.
A major concern is compulsory licensing. The IIPA said that the Act allows the copyright regulator to authorise the use of a work without the consent of the rights holder where it considers this to be in the ‘public interest’ or ‘necessary’ to address market dominance.
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The alliance warned that this “erodes contractual certainty and undermines the ability of creators to control or license their works on commercial terms,” potentially discouraging investment by allowing users to bypass rights holders.
It also criticised the introduction of extended collective licensing, a system usually reserved for countries with mature and highly transparent collective management organisations.
The IIPA argued that Nigeria does not yet meet that threshold, describing the provision as “far broader than what international best practice would support,” with a risk that rights holders could be pulled into licensing schemes without adequate safeguards.
The law’s hybrid fair use and fair dealing framework has also drawn scrutiny. While intended to modernise copyright exceptions, the alliance said its breadth creates legal uncertainty in a system with limited case law, raising the risk that courts could permit uses that conflict with the normal commercial exploitation of works.
Speaking at an AGOA eligibility review hearing in Washington in July 2025, Sydney Blitman, representing the alliance, said parts of Nigeria’s law amount to an “ill-advised compulsory licensing scheme that undermines contractual freedom and legal certainty.”
She added that several exceptions were inconsistent with the internationally recognised ‘three-step test,’ which requires that any copyright exception be narrowly defined, not interfere with normal commercial exploitation, and not unreasonably harm the rights holder’s interests.
Enforcement weaknesses deepen the concern. The alliance said the NCC online enforcement unit lacks critical resources, including reliable electricity and internet access, limiting the practical impact of existing penalties.
According to Blitman, the timing matters for the US. In 2023, foreign sales and exports of US copyright-based industries generated $272 billion, outpacing sectors such as agriculture and aerospace. For these industries to expand in AGOA-eligible markets, she said, countries must offer strong legal protection, effective enforcement and predictable licensing systems.
Nigeria has already begun to respond. In November 2025, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy, developed with support from the WIPO, to strengthen the protection and commercialisation of intellectual property rights.
Last week, on January 13, Jumoke Oduwole, minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, inaugurated the strategy’s implementation committee.
“This policy exists to deliver outcomes for the real economy,” she said. “It is about ensuring that Nigerian ideas become Nigerian enterprises; research translates into industry; creative work is protected and monetised; and that innovation supports trade, exports, and competitiveness.”
International interest remains, with Warner Music Group expressing interest in investing in Nigeria’s music market. But the alliance warned that without a fundamental course correction on collective management and enforcement, such interest may not translate into sustained foreign direct investment.
