The National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Coordination Office, Patience Okala, has said that Nigeria has moved beyond negotiating the AfCFTA Agreement to implementing practical measures that will enable businesses, investors and entrepreneurs to benefit from Africa’s single market.

Speaking at the Streamsowers & Köhn 20th Anniversary Business Forum themed, “Nigeria’s Path to Economic Resilience and Investment Leadership in a Volatile Global Environment,” Okala said the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, under the leadership of the Minister, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, is driving reforms aimed at positioning Nigerian businesses to maximise opportunities under AfCFTA.

According to her, Nigeria has gazetted its provisional schedule of tariff concessions for Trade in Goods, submitted its Schedule of Commitments for Trade in Services and continues to advance implementation in critical areas, including digital trade, investment, intellectual property and competition policy.

“We are moving from policy to implementation,” Okala said, adding that consultations with the private sector had identified logistics as one of the biggest barriers to effective participation in intra-African trade under the AfCFTA framework.

To tackle the challenge, she said the government established air cargo corridors linking Nigeria with markets in East and Southern Africa, describing the initiative as a practical intervention designed to reduce the cost and complexity of exports across the continent.

According to her, participating businesses have reported freight cost reductions of between 50 and 75 per cent, while the first beneficiaries of the initiative were women-owned and women-led enterprises, demonstrating the agreement’s potential to promote inclusive trade.

Okala also disclosed that the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, through the AfCFTA Central Coordination Committee chaired by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, has developed simplified AfCFTA guides in six languages: English, Pidgin English, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Arabic, to improve public understanding of the agreement and enable businesses to take advantage of opportunities within the continental market.

She explained that the guides simplify five key AfCFTA Protocols covering Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Digital Trade, and Women and Youth in Trade, noting that the initiative reflects Nigeria’s commitment to ensuring that implementation translates into practical business participation.

Okala further reaffirmed Nigeria’s leadership in Africa’s digital trade agenda, citing the country’s role as Co-Champion of the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol. She also noted that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment recently assumed office as Chairperson of the Bureau of the Council of Ministers Responsible for Trade under AfCFTA, a development she said reflects Nigeria’s growing influence in advancing continental trade integration.

She maintained that Nigeria’s implementation strategy remains focused on expanding market access, reducing the cost of trade, strengthening competitiveness and creating an enabling environment for Nigerian enterprises to grow across Africa.