Nigeria is moving to overhaul the way it negotiates trade agreements, with the Federal Government beginning a major recalibration of its trade negotiation architecture to ensure that the country enters bilateral, regional, continental and multilateral negotiations with clearly defined objectives, reliable evidence and a coordinated institutional framework, reports Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka, Our Managing Editor.
The reform, which places national economic interests at the centre of Nigeria’s trade diplomacy, is also aimed at ensuring that trade policy contributes directly to industrial development, expands non-oil exports, improves competitiveness and creates jobs.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ engagement on Nigeria’s Trade and Investment Negotiation Architecture.
Oduwole said the initiative was being pursued in line with the economic objectives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, stressing that Nigeria could no longer afford a fragmented approach to trade negotiations at a time when global commerce was becoming increasingly competitive and complex.
At the heart of the reform is the transformation of the Enlarged National Focal Point (ENFP) on Trade Matters into the Nigeria Trade Negotiation Architecture (NTNA).
Under the proposed arrangement, the Trade Department and the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) will serve as Co-Technical Leads, while a designated Secretariat will coordinate the negotiation portfolio, maintain institutional records and prepare action reports.
The new system is expected to introduce monthly reporting, quarterly stakeholder engagements and designated focal officers from participating institutions.
These measures are intended to strengthen coordination, preserve institutional memory, improve accountability and ensure that commitments reached during trade negotiations are followed through.
For Oduwole, however, institutional restructuring alone will not guarantee better outcomes.
She emphasised that an effective negotiation system must be backed by rigorous preparation, credible data and meaningful consultation with the people and institutions directly affected by trade policies.
She therefore called on the private sector, labour, academia, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other stakeholders to provide government negotiators with practical information on market opportunities, trade barriers, competitive advantages and possible vulnerabilities.
Such information, she said, would enable negotiators to develop positions that reflect Nigeria’s economic realities and protect areas of strategic national interest.
Another major component of the reform is the planned strengthening of the Commercial Officer cadre to provide market intelligence, trade-policy analysis and support for Nigerian businesses operating in international markets.
The Minister also clarified that investment negotiations under the International Investment Agreement Negotiation Team would continue as a distinct track, while the broader framework would provide greater coordination between the country’s trade and investment interests.
From ENFP to a new negotiating framework
The reform represents a significant institutional evolution from the Enlarged National Focal Point for the World Trade Organization, which was established in 2001 as a national consultation mechanism within the then Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The ENFP brought together government institutions, private-sector organisations, academia, professional bodies and other stakeholders.
Its responsibilities included facilitating consultations, providing technical advice, harmonising negotiating positions and supporting Nigeria’s bilateral, regional, continental and multilateral trade engagements.
Over the years, however, its effectiveness was affected by a number of operational challenges.
These included a large and dispersed membership, irregular meetings, changes in institutional representation, weak follow-up and record-keeping, as well as overlaps among institutions handling trade-related responsibilities.
The recalibration seeks to retain the inclusive character of the old arrangement while introducing clearer technical leadership, defined reporting lines, specific institutional responsibilities and stronger accountability.
Under the proposed structure, the Director of Trade will chair the architecture, relevant departments will provide technical leadership, while the designated Secretariat will maintain the negotiation portfolio, institutional records and action reports.
The strengthened Commercial Officer function will also support policy analysis, negotiation preparation, stakeholder coordination, reporting and institutional knowledge management.
Stakeholders asked to make the framework work
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, represented by the Head of Special Duties Department, Mr. Simon Omo-Ezomo, welcomed participants to the engagement and conveyed the Minister’s directive that provided the basis for developing the proposed Nigeria Trade and Investment Negotiation Architecture.
He said the framework was expected to comprise the National Trade Coordination Platform and the National International Investment Agreement Negotiation Team, supported by a designated Secretariat.
According to him, the stakeholder engagement was designed to examine how the proposed mechanism would work in practice, with discussions focusing on membership, responsibilities, terms of reference and ongoing negotiations.
He urged participating institutions to make practical contributions, identify areas of overlap or uncertainty and indicate the technical support they could provide.
Each participating institution is expected to nominate two focal officers to improve continuity, facilitate information exchange and enhance the quality and timeliness of Nigeria’s trade negotiations.
The Trade Negotiation Department is expected to document the deliberations and develop an action matrix assigning responsibilities and timelines.
AfCFTA tariff negotiations also gather momentum
The engagement also provided an update on Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) tariff concession process.
The National Coordinator, Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Mrs Patience Okala, said negotiations on the Category B and C tariff bands, led by the ECOWAS Commission, had reached an advanced stage.
She said the Commission was proceeding with the transmission of the agreed Category B and C lists to the AfCFTA authorities.
Okala recalled that, following the October 30, 2020 ECOWAS memorandum, the ECOWAS Commission was mandated to finalise the draft ECOWAS Common Schedule of Tariff Concessions, incorporating the 73 tariff lines agreed by the Ministerial Committee on Tariff Concessions comprising Ghana, The Gambia, Nigeria and the ECOWAS Commission.
She explained that Category A covers 90 per cent of tariff lines, while Category B covers sensitive products and Category C covers products on the exclusion list.
While Category A was initially required during the early phase of AfCFTA implementation, the implementation process now requires the full complement of Categories A, B and C.
According to Okala, the ECOWAS Commission has finalised the Category B and C listings following the directive of the ECOWAS Ministers of Trade and Industry at their meeting in Accra, Ghana, and in line with decisions of the 18th AfCFTA Council of Ministers.
The development, she said, represents an important step towards completing the tariff concession process and advancing implementation of the continental free trade agreement.
A new test for Nigeria’s trade diplomacy
The proposed architecture ultimately seeks to change not only the structure but also the process through which Nigeria approaches international trade negotiations.
By bringing technical expertise, market intelligence, stakeholder input, institutional continuity and accountability into a more coordinated framework, the government hopes to ensure that trade agreements translate into tangible opportunities for Nigerian producers and businesses.
The success of the initiative will, however, depend on how effectively participating institutions share information, maintain continuity and convert stakeholder input into coherent negotiating positions.
For a country seeking to diversify its economy, expand non-oil exports and strengthen its participation in regional and global markets, the recalibration represents an effort to make trade negotiations more deliberate, coordinated and closely connected to Nigeria’s wider economic priorities.
