Logistics Gaps Threaten Nigeria’s AfCFTA Ambitions

By FRED LONGJOHN OBEH

AfCFTA: A Historic Opportunity Under Strain

ECONOMIC experts have repeatedly described Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as one of the most consequential trade opportunities in the country’s modern economic history. With a single African market of over 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP exceeding $3 trillion, AfCFTA offers Nigeria the chance to expand exports, industrialise faster, and assert regional trade leadership.

Yet, despite its market size and production potential, Nigeria risks missing this opportunity. Industry experts warn that deep-seated weaknesses in logistics, transportation, trade facilitation, and export governance are eroding the country’s competitiveness and leaving it structurally disadvantaged within the AfCFTA framework.

Fragmented Logistics, Rising Costs

Dr. Eugene Nweke, a maritime and logistics expert and Head of Research at the Sea Empowerment and Research Center (SEREC), argues that Nigeria’s logistics architecture remains fundamentally flawed. According to him, while successive governments have invested heavily in airport terminals, ports, roads, and rail projects, these investments lack strategic integration.

“Nigeria does not operate a cargo-driven logistics system,” Nweke said. “We build passenger airports without dedicated air-cargo facilities, develop ports without seamless rail and inland connectivity, and treat sea, air, and land transport as isolated modes.”

He noted that the absence of dedicated national air-cargo airports, sea–air and air–sea cargo corridors, and multimodal customs integration has produced high freight costs, long transit times, and weak regional trade connectivity.

Africa-to-Africa Trade via Europe

One of the most damaging consequences of Nigeria’s logistics gaps, experts say, is the paradoxical routing of African cargo. Goods moving between Nigeria and Southern or Eastern Africa often pass through Europe, the Middle East, or Asia before reaching their African destinations.

“This is structurally irrational,” Nweke explained. “It increases costs through double handling, prolongs delivery timelines, and places Nigerian exporters at a disadvantage against competitors with direct continental routes.”

Under AfCFTA, where tariff reductions are meant to enhance competitiveness, logistics inefficiencies have become a hidden tax on Nigerian businesses.

Policy Gaps and the Call for Reform

In a comprehensive white paper, Nweke proposed a national logistics transformation framework aimed at repositioning Nigeria as a regional trade hub. The policy recommendations include:

• Dedicated national air-cargo airports

• Integrated sea–air and air–sea logistics corridors

• Multimodal customs and trade data platforms

• Cargo-first airport development philosophy

• Technology-driven logistics governance

Anchored on global best practices, particularly Singapore’s cargo-hub model, the framework aligns with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Nweke said.

“In today’s economy, competitiveness is not about how much you produce but how fast, cheap, and reliably you can move goods,” he added.

Packaging Failures and Lost Export Value

Beyond infrastructure, experts also identified weaknesses in export packaging and standards as a major reason Nigeria is losing market share to neighbouring countries.

Ismail Aniemu, a maritime expert, recounted how Ghana has capitalised on Nigeria’s agricultural output through superior packaging and branding.

“I have seen yams packaged for export in Ghana—some of them sourced from Nigeria,” he said. “They meet international standards. Nigeria does not do that.”

According to Aniemu, Ghana’s dominance in cocoa exports and its growing presence in yam exports underscore Nigeria’s failure to protect its comparative advantages.

“If we don’t act, they will lead us in cassava and everything else,” he warned.

NEPC Under Fire

A recurring theme in expert commentary is the perceived absence of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) from critical export corridors, particularly seaports.

Aniemu described the agency as “an absentee organisation,” arguing that maritime exports—Nigeria’s largest export channel—operate largely without institutional support.

“What a ship carries would require hundreds of aircraft,” he said. “Yet NEPC is not visible at the ports.”

Private Sector Carrying the Load

Anefi Mohammed, Vice Chairman of the International Freight Forwarders Association (IFFA), PTML chapter, echoed similar concerns. He said exporters routinely battle congestion, road blockages, and bureaucratic delays without intervention from export authorities.

“During Apapa congestion, exporters fought alone,” Mohammed said. “NEPC never came to the ports to engage the police or traffic agencies.”

He added that many government export initiatives exist only on paper, with limited field implementation.

AfCFTA at a Crossroads

As AfCFTA trade volumes increase across the continent, experts warn that Nigeria’s success will depend not on policy declarations but on execution. Without urgent reforms in logistics integration, export governance, and institutional accountability, Nigeria risks becoming a consumer rather than a supplier in Africa’s single market.