The Lead Coordinator of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) National Coordination Office, Mr Olusegun Olutayo in this exclusive interview with our Assistant Editor, Oluyinka Onigbinde sheds light on Nigeria’s preparedness, achievements, and future prospects under the agreement. He speaks passionately about Nigeria’s progress, the recent ground-breaking AfCFTA Hackathon, and the role of youths in driving the continental trade agenda.
As the Lead Coordinator of Nigeria’s AfCFTA National Coordination Office, how will you assess the country’s level of preparedness for full implementation of the agreement?
Like I always say, this is my full understanding of the AfCFTA agreement and its implementation. And I like to say, it is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. From that concept, it should be clear that it is one step after another. And I can tell you confidently, with the leadership of the National Coordinator, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, Nigeria is in good stead of AfCFTA implementation.
What would you highlight as the key achievements so far since the establishment of the Coordination Office?
Essentially, when we view it from the understanding that it is not a sprint, but a marathon, it tells you that it is in the question of being strategic and then being aligned with the extant provisions of requirement within the agreement. For example, the agreement expected state parties to sign off – and Nigeria has signed off. Two, states are to deposit the instrument of ratification – that has been done by Nigeria. Three, join the Guided Trade Initiative – you can tick that box. Four, gazette the provision of schedule of tariff offer – that has been done, even though there are some internal processes that needed to be perfected, and that is allowed. It is the fact that within the context of the other eight protocols, Nigeria is in the vanguard. I tell you, just last year, even prior to the adoption of the AfCFTA digital trade protocol, Nigeria, as a state party, was the first to organize a workshop back-to-back in Lagos and Abuja, and of course getting the backing of the AfCFTA Secretariat in Ghana. Guess what now? Nigeria is the first to launch a very groundbreaking initiative called AfCFTA Hackathon. It also has the endorsement of the Secretariat under the leadership of my brother and friend, His Excellency Wamkele Mene. They were so elated with this groundbreaking initiative – it’s just the first of its kind. The next edition in 2026 – we already are planning towards it. And this is under the leadership of Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, leading the Nigerian AfCFTA Coordination Office. And let me say this, Nigerian AfCFTA Coordination Office has been approved by our dear President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR and giving us more latitude for the implementation agenda of AfCFTA in this country and by extension, Africa. And we have been diligent, we have been focused, and we have been delivering on all fronts.
There’s no gain saying that you’ve been able to actually break barriers and achieve all these within the time frame of AfCFTA in Nigeria. With such progress, what challenges or pending areas still remain?
On the contrary, there is still so much to do. Now, I was talking yesterday that when you look at intra-African trade as we speak now, it is less than 20%. It depends on the statistics you are using. Some will tell you it’s 17%, some will tell you it’s 18%. But the bottom line is – it’s less than 20%. This is where AfCFTA implementation comes in. Yes, talking about what is left, so much is still left. Now, if you go from what I said that is a marathon. If intra-African trade is less than 20%, then the very first task would be to grow intra-African trade to like 40% or 70%. That is a lot to do. In the context of harmonizing regulation, that is still pending. In the context of creating jobs with AfCFTA for our teeming youths, our women, and the entire population of Africa – that is still so much to be done. Also, in the areas of standards, harmonizing them – that is still much to be done. When you begin to go to all other protocols like investment, the investment into Africa, what is that ratio? AfCFTA is the instrument that we can use to leverage in drawing investment into our continent, into Nigeria as a country. So it is a journey of a marathon.
What sectors of the Nigerian economy are likely to benefit the most from AfCFTA?
It is the entirety of the protocol. And sincerely, the Nigerian AfCFTA Coordination Office has ran models across board. And the point that we are getting is: opportunity, opportunity, opportunity.
What’s the latest update on the domestication process of AfCFTA in Nigeria?
Like I said, the Secretary General of AfCFTA in Ghana has made the announcement. It is just for one or two things at domestic level, you know, to be perfected – and then we are good to go.
Let’s talk about the AfCFTA Hackathon. What impact has this had on the continent, and what was the response like?
I can tell you that this AfCFTA Hackathon got entry from Ghana, from Algeria, from Malawi – and that tells you that even within the short time that we had to plan for it, the news is already spreading across the entire continent. It even got endorsement from the AfCFTA Secretariat in Ghana.
How can this impact the Nigeria Economy?
When you begin to look at the demography of the economy itself, you see that our youths are in the larger percentage. Depending on the statistics you are holding, some would say 60%, some would say 70%. And when you are able to engage the youths, you are already making sure that that economy is going to be productive. We are in the digitalization era. So this Hackathon is actually trying to bring the youths on board, because they are the ones that have that capacity to begin to develop more products in various areas of challenges. The overall winner was able to develop this product to solve one of the problems that we designed, and that is very visible as we speak.
What do you think the Federal Government can do to make the Hackathon translate into sustainable economic impact?
We look forward for more support. It has to be more support in terms of policy, in terms of ensuring that we sustain this tempo – to have our youths channel their energy to something more productive, something that will eventually enhance the economy. By the time you extrapolate the opportunity around this product, it is enormous. For example, before now, if I want to send money, I would go to the bank. But now, you can do that (digitally). This is one of the productiveness of this product that we are trying to ensure – that our youths and African youths begin to develop to solve the cross-border trade challenges across the continent.
You mentioned that all participants will be enrolled in the AfCFTA Hackathon Academy. What can you tell us about this?
That is what we are going to develop. The details will be available accordingly. But this is how we can keep the community. This is how we can grow the community. This is how we can expand the community. The second edition of AfCFTA Hackathon – the date will be announced soon. And then this community will now begin to feed into the larger community of the second edition and the third edition. This is how you now get industry to begin to know what is actually available in the context of product development. And then we can begin to get it across, get people to invest, and have their seed money into such products. Before you know what is happening, most of all these issues would be resolved with indigenous solutions.
