The Chief Executive Officer of Lelook Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Chinwe Ezenwa, has described the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a “prosperity highway” for African entrepreneurs, recounting her remarkable journey of leveraging the trade platform to expand her fashion business across multiple African countries.
Speaking at a forum in Lagos, Mrs. Ezenwa said contrary to popular belief that the AfCFTA framework is ineffective, her experience has proven otherwise. “Most people think it doesn’t work, but I’m here to counter that because it works. It still works,” she declared. According to her, preparation, information-seeking, and compliance with laid-down rules were key to her success under the AfCFTA regime.
“If you are an SME, you must go out for information — don’t wait for the Manufacturers Association or others to give it to you. Engage the Traders Council and Nigeria Customs. The AfCFTA is rule-based; one of the biggest rules is the rule of origin,” she said.
Mrs. Ezenwa, who has been in trade for over four decades, revealed that once her products — mainly handmade bags — met the requirements for origin verification, several government agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, supervised her factory to certify that her goods were genuinely made in Nigeria. This led to her obtaining the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certificate from Customs earlier this year, a development she described as “an express highway” for her export business.
Explaining how she broke into the East African market, Ezenwa said her first consignment of bags was shipped to Kenya in collaboration with a Kenyan businesswoman she had never met in person. “I sent my things by air and deposited them at the Nigerian Embassy in Kenya. Within 48 hours, my goods were cleared. Since then, my products have been moving there freely,” she said, adding that her brand now exports to Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Namibia.
She expressed gratitude to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council for their intervention when she encountered excessive charges from a shipping company on her initial consignment. “Their complaints department took it upon themselves and resolved the issue. They reduced the tariff, and it became a win-win situation,” she noted.
Encouraging fellow entrepreneurs to take advantage of the trade pact, she emphasized that AfCFTA offers enormous opportunities, with an estimated market size of **$3.4 trillion**. “That market is huge. I’m talking about producing one million bags a year — school bags, world bags. Once it hits Kenya, it spreads to Tanzania and Uganda. It’s working for me,” she said.
Mrs. Ezenwa also disclosed that she has established an academy to train other Nigerian SMEs on how to access and compete in the AfCFTA market. “You must get up, prepare, and face that market. Business is war; nobody sends you, you send yourself,” she advised.
She commended the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment for negotiating a cheaper export rate with Ugandan Airlines, reducing airfreight costs from over $3 per kilogram with DHL to $1.20, thereby making trade more affordable for small businesses.
Highlighting her growing success, she said, “On the 16th, I’ll be in Uganda to open a new Lelook shop for a woman who wants to franchise my brand. Very soon, I’ll become a big franchise.”
Mrs. Ezenwa concluded with a charge to Nigerian entrepreneurs: “Stop criticizing from your comfort zone. The AfCFTA is working — and it’s my prosperity highway.”
