By Oluyinka Onigbinde
Investigation by Shipping Position Daily has revealed a widening gap in Africa’s trade integration drive under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with Nigeria significantly underperforming in the issuance of Certificates of Origin, compared to leading economies on the continent.
Data obtained from trade monitoring sources indicate that about 8,500 Certificates of Origin have so far been issued across Africa under the AfCFTA framework. The certificate is a key instrument that certifies the local content of exported goods and qualifies them for preferential tariff access within the continent.
However, fresh confirmation from the Nigeria Customs Service shows that Nigeria has issued only about 37 Certificates of Origin to date, a figure that sharply contrasts with Nigeria’s peers and underscores what stakeholders describe as weak implementation and poor coordination of the AfCFTA framework in the country.
In comparison, South Africa has issued over 4,000 Certificates of Origin, accounting for nearly half of the continental total. Egypt, Kenya, and Ghana also maintain significantly higher utilisation rates, placing Nigeria far behind despite its position as Africa’s largest economy.
The disparity has raised concerns among maritime operators, exporters, and trade facilitators, who warn that Nigeria risks missing out on the benefits of a unified African market if urgent reforms are not undertaken.
Stakeholders argue that the responsibility lies with Nigeria’s AfCFTA implementation structure, which they say has failed to effectively drive adoption, streamline processes, and build awareness among exporters.
According to them, the system remains constrained by bureaucratic bottlenecks, limited automation, and weak inter-agency coordination, all of which continue to discourage exporters from accessing the trade benefits embedded in the agreement.
A maritime trade stakeholder; Ayo Oni who spoke to Shipping Position Daily described Nigeria’s performance as “a clear case of implementation failure,” noting that other African countries have moved faster to integrate digital systems and simplify certification procedures.
He said: “The problem is not the AfCFTA itself, but Nigeria’s implementation structure. While countries like South Africa have automated and simplified their processes, Nigeria is still battling manual procedures, delays, and poor sensitisation of exporters.”
He added that unless urgent corrective measures are taken, Nigeria risks becoming a passive participant in intra-African trade while more organised economies dominate exports under the agreement.
He noted that the situation is further compounded by structural challenges such as high production costs, inadequate logistics infrastructure, port congestion, and overlapping regulatory frameworks, all of which continue to undermine export competitiveness.
He called on the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nigeria Customs Service, and AfCFTA coordinating bodies in Nigeria to urgently overhaul the certification process through full digitalisation, stronger stakeholder engagement, and improved policy coordination.
He warned that failure to act decisively could weaken Nigeria’s long-term position in the emerging African single market estimated at over $3 trillion, effectively surrendering competitive advantage to better-prepared economies.
Our correspondent observed that with South Africa issuing more than 4,000 Certificates of Origin compared to Nigeria’s 37, the disparity reflects not just trade documentation gaps, but deeper concerns about execution capacity and institutional effectiveness within Nigeria’s AfCFTA framework.
