Nigeria has assumed the chairmanship of the Bureau of the African Continental Free Trade Area Council of Ministers with the Federal Government saying its priority will be to turn AfCFTA commitments into measurable trade, investment, production and jobs.
Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Jumoke Oduwole stated the position at the third-quarter 2026 meeting of Nigeria’s AfCFTA Central Coordination Committee in Abuja.
Oduwole said Nigeria’s role as chair of the ministers’ bureau, alongside its position as co-champion of the Digital Trade Protocol, created both responsibility and opportunity.
She said the government wanted implementation to move beyond policy discussions and become visible in actual commercial transactions.
The minister highlighted recent AfCFTA-related activities including Nigeria’s hosting of AfCFTA Week, the HerAfCFTA Regional Conference, the Council of Ministers meeting and the Digital Trade Forum.
She also said engagement with Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat over the Adjustment Fund could create new financing and technical-support opportunities for Nigerian businesses.
The National Single Window is another part of the trade-facilitation agenda intended to reduce friction at the border and across government agencies.
Oduwole cited a Nigeria-Botswana trade mission in which OSC College of Fashion secured an order to supply 6,000 T-shirts as an example of the kind of practical outcome government wants from continental integration.
National Coordinator of the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office Patience Okalawhi said Nigeria had also helped resolve eight reported non-tariff-barrier cases affecting businesses.
She added that Nigeria’s Central Coordination Committee model had attracted interest from the AfCFTA Secretariat, which requested the country to lead a peer-learning session for other African states.
The Federal Government said the next phase would focus on helping producers and exporters connect to buyers, finance and digital trade systems across the continent.
The challenge will be ensuring that businesses experience AfCFTA as a commercial opportunity rather than primarily as an intergovernmental policy framework.
