Growing certification requirements in public procurement, corporate supply chains and trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) have created fresh challenges for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as businesses without internationally recognised certification struggle to meet emerging market requirements.
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The concern came to the fore yesterday as NECA‘s Global Certification Limited (NGCL) unveiled its Certification Pathway, a fixed-price route to internationally accredited ISO 9001 certification designed for organisations with between 10 and 50 employees.

NGCL said certification is becoming increasingly important in public procurement, corporate supply chains and trade opportunities as organisations seek verifiable standards from suppliers and contractors.

Speaking at the launch, Acting Managing Director of NGCL, Noruwa Edokpolo, said certification was increasingly becoming a condition for accessing business opportunities.

According to him, public procurement, corporate supply chains and trade opportunities under AfCFTA now place growing emphasis on verifiable certification.
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“Today, tenders, corporate supply chains, African Free Trade increasingly demand certification. So, if you don’t have certification, you can’t play in that market,” he said.
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Edokpolo noted that many smaller businesses have historically struggled to obtain certification despite being among those that stand to benefit most from it. He attributed the challenge to opaque pricing structures, dollar-linked charges, high upfront costs and the activities of unaccredited operators issuing certificates that fail verification.
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To address the challenge, he said NGCL developed a certification pathway for organisations with between 10 and 50 employees, offering fixed pricing in naira and a three-stage process covering readiness assessment, certification and annual surveillance leading to ISO 9001:2015 quality management certification.