As part of efforts to advance intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has held a Kenya-Nigeria trade and investment mission themed: ‘Advancing Intra-African Trade and Industrial Partnerships under AfCFTA’.
Held in collaboration with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), LCCI President, Gabriel Idahosa, decried the fact that for many decades, trade patterns had always flowed outward, sending raw commodities across oceans and receiving finished goods in return.
Idahosa noted that AfCFTA offers a platform to rewrite this story by building an integrated market that fuels industrialisation from within. He said Kenya and Nigeria were perfectly poised to drive Africa’s industrialisation.
According to him, with vibrant populations, expanding private sectors, innovative entrepreneurs and shared development aspirations, the continent must take the crucial step towards strengthening bilateral relations, shaping new value chains and catalysing a future where African nations trade more effectively with one another and build industries that are competitive on a global scale.
Urging the development of cross-border production networks, industrial corridors and investment partnerships, he said Nigeria’s vast consumer market, rich natural resources, rapidly growing manufacturing capacity and expanding digital economy present enormous opportunities for trade integration.
Idahosa further called on policymakers to strengthen regulatory clarity, enhance customs efficiency, invest in logistics infrastructure and foster a stable economic climate that enables trade under the AfCFTA to flourish.
Leader of the delegation, National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya, Anthony Oluoch, stressed that AfCFTA was a game-changer for both countries, but expressed concern that the numerous challenges continued to threaten its potential.
Oluoch noted that they had started the work by laying the foundation for the Trade in Goods and Services, but expressed that the real transformative work lies in the Phase II Protocols, which consists of investment, digital trade, intellectual property rights, competition policy and the protocol on women and youths in trade. Lamenting the wasted potential for trade between the economic powerhouses, he decried the level of bilateral trade between the two countries.
To unlock this potential, he canvassed an end to non-tariff barriers, a mutual recognise of standards and certifications, direct investment corridors, eased connectivity and logistics, as well as structured parliamentary engagement to support enabling laws.
Kenya’s high commissioner to Nigeria, Isaac Parashina, stated that expanding trade within Africa remained one of the clearest ways to drive industrial growth, create meaningful employment for youths and shield Africa’s economies from external volatility. He said, however, that this could only be achieved through steady leadership, consistent policy and closer collaboration between governments and the private sector.
He added that it also required the players in the continent to strengthen the micro, small, and medium enterprises that keep economies dynamic and innovative.
“In 2024, bilateral trade stood at $64 million, with Kenya exporting over $61 million worth of goods to Nigeria, while Nigerian exports to Kenya trickled in at under $3 million. Kenya’s visa waiver for Nigerian citizens for stays of up to 60 days signals our commitment to easier mobility and closer engagement,” he added.
Calling for stronger government and private sector collaboration, Parashina said that was the only way to tackle the numerous challenges hindering trade, including Infrastructure limitations, high logistics costs, foreign exchange pressures, regulatory complexity and gaps in market information, which continue to slow progress. “Bureaucratic hurdles, corruption, trust deficits and security concerns create additional barriers,” he added.
Speaking on how to unlock trade and investment opportunities between both countries, KAM’s Head of Consulting and Sustainability, Joyce Njogu, said that many businesses between the two countries still had very little understanding of what AfCFTA truly entailed and what it could do. Njogu decried that most Nigerian exporters still preferred to trade with the United States and Europe rather than with the rest of Africa.
She regretted that logistics and last-mile delivery were still a major problem hindering trade and called for full sincerity and harmonisation of standards across the whole continent, as well as true integration. “If African states subscribe and comply with global standards laid down by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the U.S. and the European Union, why do we still need a different set of standards for the different African countries again to trade amongst ourselves?” she queried.
The conference also featured exhibitions, matchmaking and business-to-business meetings for entrepreneurs from both countries.
