Chairman of the Nigerian-Türkiye Business Council (NTBC), Mr Dele Kelvin Oye, has said Nigeria must take urgent and deliberate steps to harness its demographic advantage and the opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to facilitate production and drive economic growth and development in the country as well as the African continent.

Oye, who is also the Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics LTD/GTE, spoke at a high-level business gathering of diplomats, captains of industry and members of the Nigerian–Türkiye Business Council, where he also advocated increased and more strategic partnerships between Nigeria and Türkiye.

Oye, the Life Vice-President & 22nd National President, NACCIMA, said Nigeria’s demography, its youthful population, vast resource base and expanding market, position the country to become a major manufacturing and export hub for the continent, if supported by the right mix of policies, investments and international partnerships.

He said: “From Vision to Impact, the Nigerian–Türkiye Business Council was conceived not by accident but by foresight. Jointly imagined by NACCIMA and DEİK, NTBC was established as a platform to translate bilateral goodwill into trade, investment and shared industrial projects.

“Beginning as a modest connector of business opportunities, the Council has evolved into a full‑service facilitator—verifying partners, supplying market intelligence, staging targeted trade missions, and advocating to remove structural bottlenecks.

“Our evolution reflects a clear strategic insight: true partnership is not measured solely by volume of transactions, but by the quality of investment, technology transfer, job creation and long‑term linkages we forge together.”