The Chief Executive Officer/Founder, Valcertra, Prof. Benard Odoh, has stated that African small and medium enterprises forfeit an estimated $38 billion in export opportunities each year.

He also lamented Africa’s marginal participation in global trade, noting that the continent accounts for just three per cent of total global trade volume.

Speaking at the Valcertra Business Summit in Abuja on Monday, Prof. Odoh attributed the huge losses to structural bottlenecks, weak export infrastructure and regulatory constraints.

He urged African governments and private-sector stakeholders to strengthen policy support, improve trade facilitation, and invest in capacity building to enable SMEs to compete effectively in the global market.

While revealing that the digital trade platform, Valcertra, would be formally launched in early 2026, he said it will serve as Nigeria’s first verified export gateway by connecting African manufacturers, farmers, and traders to global buyers in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Canada.

According to him, the platform complies with the African Continental Free Trade Area, which requires a minimum of 40 per cent local value addition for exports. The platform, he said, was being tested to gather stakeholder input ahead of its launch early next year.

He said: “Each year, African small and medium enterprises lose an estimated $38 billion in export opportunities. This is not because Africa lacks quality products or capable producers, but because trust breaks down along the trade chain through product rejections, documentation gaps, inconsistent standards, and fragmented systems. Nearly 70 per cent of African producers who attempt to export never succeed, not for lack of effort or quality, but because the pathways to global markets remain unreliable, opaque, and slow.

“Yet global demand for African products has never been stronger. From cocoa, shea, hibiscus, and spices to cashew, honey, ginger, leather, and crafts, buyers across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America are actively seeking African products. What has been missing is a single trusted gateway that guarantees quality, compliance, traceability, and predictable delivery. That is the gap Valcertra was created to close.

“Valcertra has therefore been designed as Africa’s first full-stack trade infrastructure, purpose-built to address the systemic bottlenecks that have constrained African exports for decades”.

Representatives from the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Bank of Industry, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), AfCFTA Secretariat, as well as local manufacturers, farmers and traders attended the Business Summit.

Also speaking, the Group Head, Product Development and Innovation, Business Development Division, Bank of Industry, Dr Emmanuel Ojowuro, explained that the Bank has been supporting and promoting local businesses for over 60 years to enhance export capabilities.

He said the Bank provides financing, resources, and advisory services to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to ensure local production meets export standards.

Dr Ojowuro said BoI only finances products that meet required standards, stressing that funding is not given indiscriminately but strictly for goods that comply with health and export requirements.

He added that this was why Valcertra is being engaged for validation and value-adding certifications, noting that all financed businesses must meet specified standards to ensure that exported goods from the country are compliant.