By Mahdi Waziri Isa
A renowned expert on Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Professor Muhammed Tawfiq Ladan, has revealed that Nigeria’s economic landscape from 2021 to 2026 has been defined by a concerted push to break away from oil dependency by targeting structural industrial growth, with Industrial Free Trade Zones and the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, SAPZ, program positioned as crucial domestic production hubs and Nigeria’s primary launchpad into the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, market.
According to Prof. Ladan, operating within the regional frameworks of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, these zones act as regional building blocks, allowing Nigeria to scale up its non-oil manufacturing capacity, streamline cross-border trade, and align its industrial output with continental demands.
He stated that the core objectives of the strategic review are to evaluate the structural size, financial volume, and operational capacity of Nigeria’s active processing enclaves between 2021 and 2026; assess the alignment of localized value chains with the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Goods, specifically tracking rules of origin compliance and preferential tariff schedules; identify institutional, logistical, and financial bottlenecks limiting the productivity of tenant enterprises; and provide actionable policy frameworks and operational toolkits to maximize the economic impact of these zones for public and private stakeholders.
Prof. Ladan noted that the geographical scope covers Phase I and Phase II of the multi-state SAPZ networks alongside primary export processing zones managed by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, NEPZA, with commodity focus on Cassava, Rice, Ginger, Sesame, Cashew, and Cocoa. He added that the regulatory and financial rails include the Nigeria Customs Service digital clearing systems and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, PAPSS, cross-border payment architecture.
On treaty commitments, he said Nigeria formally deposited its instrument of ratification for the AfCFTA Agreement in December 2020, locking the country into the implementation window spanning 2021–2026, and has fully ratified the Protocol on Trade in Goods, the Protocol on Trade in Services, and the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes, while actively harmonizing national laws with protocols on Intellectual Property Rights, Investment, and Competition Policy. He further stated that Nigeria is among the early adopters of the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade and formally joined the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, GTI, in mid-2024, enabling businesses within designated free zones to launch commercial container shipments to participating countries.
Prof. Ladan said the operationalization of Nigeria’s processing zones relies heavily on ECOWAS frameworks, with the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme, ETLS, serving as the primary mechanism for duty-free trade within West Africa, and the ECOWAS Common External Tariff, CET, dictating tariff structure for raw agricultural inputs, with zone enterprises exploiting CET concessions on raw capital equipment and machinery typically taxed at 0% to 5% to scale processing infrastructure.
On size and scale, he stated that Phase I of SAPZ spans 7 states and the FCT – Cross River, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Ogun, Oyo – covering roughly 19% of Nigeria’s landmass and impacting over 50 million citizens, while Phase II expands across 10 initial Tranche states targeting populations exceeding 62 million. He said capital allocations feature a multi-donor framework led by the African Development Bank, AfDB, and IFAD, including a $99.97 million IFAD commitment and recent $200 million AfDB injections, aiming to unlock over $1.5 billion in cumulative private sector investments, with Phase I targeting 8 primary agro-industrial processing hubs and 15 agricultural transformation centers.
On value chains, Prof. Ladan said Nigeria’s zones utilize a decentralized hub-and-spoke model with Cassava and Rice enclaves concentrated in Ogun, Oyo, and Kwara focusing on starch extraction, HQCF, and automated rice milling; Ginger and Sesame hubs anchored in Kaduna and Kano targeting washing, drying, and cleaning to meet phytosanitary standards; and Cashew and Cocoa processing positioned across Cross River and Oyo focusing on roasting, shelling, and butter extraction.
He explained that under AfCFTA, Nigeria must eliminate tariffs on 90% of non-sensitive tariff lines, with 7% categorized as sensitive and given a 10-year phase-out, while 3% remain excluded, and that to access 0% tariffs, zone products must be “wholly obtained” or undergo “substantial transformation” with a 35–40% regional value-added threshold.
On customs, he said exporters must navigate the NCS AfCFTA Portal for electronic Certificate of Origin, the B’Odogwu Unified Customs Management System for declarations, and provide NEPC Exporter Registration, Clean Certificate of Inspection, and digitized bill of entry. On finance, he stated that PAPSS enables payment in Naira and other local currencies, removing the requirement for US Dollar intermediation, with CBN backing and reduced transaction fees for MSMEs.
Prof. Ladan listed benefits to include value addition shifting Nigeria from raw commodity exporting to standardized processed inputs, and job creation of up to 1.1 million to 1.6 million direct and indirect jobs with approximately 60% for youth and 50% for women.
He identified challenges as implementation lags that deferred financing tranches by up to 20 months, severe power grid unreliability, high logistics costs, fractured road networks, and delays due to lack of harmonized cross-border corporate identifiers for KYB checks.
On prospects, he said harmonization by ECOWAS and the AfCFTA Secretariat positions Nigerian hubs to scale intra-African exports, and that expressions of interest from the remaining 27 states indicate demand to broaden the cluster model nationwide.
In conclusion, Prof. Ladan said Nigeria’s industrial and agro-processing zones represent a vital structural bridge toward economic diversification and continental trade integration, and while delayed execution and infrastructural deficits constrain throughput, strategic scaling through public-private partnerships offers a viable pathway to transform raw agricultural potential into competitive export volumes.
He recommended that federal and state governments fast-track infrastructure delivery including off-grid independent power solutions and dedicated agro-logistics corridors; that AfDB/IFAD streamline disbursement triggers and provide technical assistance; and that private sector and agribusinesses invest in localized intermediate processing technology to meet continental quality and packaging standards.
Prof. Ladan also presented annexes including a policy memo to the Comptroller-General of Customs proposing a Green Channel to cut clearance from 48 hours to under 2 hours; a cybersecurity compliance map for TLS 1.3 encryption, MFA and NDPA alignment; a phytosanitary SOP for ginger and sesame in Kaduna and Kano; a zone performance scorecard with Green, Amber and Red status; and a PPP procurement brief for 10MW to 25MW solar hybrid microgrids and logistics corridors under a 20-year DBFOM model with tax holidays and VGF support.