Nigeria has what it takes to lead Africa’s new era of trade if it tackles high logistics costs, develops efficient payment systems, and invests in value addition, according to World Trade Organisation, WTO, Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Speaking on the sidelines of the WTO Public Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria and other African economies must speed up the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, and build stronger infrastructure to unlock billions of dollars in opportunities in manufacturing, services, and digital trade.

Speaking on how Nigeria can leverage World Trade Organisation, WTO, rules to boost implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area , AfCFTA, particularly in manufacturing, services, and digital trade, the WTO Director-General said: “The AfCFTA is a great step, but Africa trades only about 15–20 percent within itself — far below the European Union, EU’s 60 percent. We (Nigeria) need to speed up implementation so Africans trade more with each other.

“Take Lesotho: it exports around $200 million worth of textiles (jeans, etc.) to the U.S. — about 10 percent of its GDP — while Africa imports $7 billion of similar goods. Why not absorb Lesotho’s products within Africa? To unlock intra-African trade, we (Nigeria) need efficient payments systems (Afreximbank and others are working on this), better infrastructure and lower trade costs. It shouldn’t take longer to ship goods from Cape Town to Lagos than from China to Lagos. Value addition and diversification so we are not all exporting the same raw materials.

“With critical minerals, energy, and new supply chains, plus opportunities in services and digital trade, there’s huge potential — if we invest in connectivity and implementation.”