Trade
By Taiye Olayemi
Mr Tiku Allu, Assistant Director, Imports and Trade Relations Office, Trade and Exchange Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says expanding fair access to foreign exchange and trade finance will unlock Nigeria’s export potential and strengthen regional commerce.
Allu, said this at the 2026 Ecobank Nigeria’s Customer Forum on Tuesday in Lagos.
He said that recent policy measures were designed to ensure transparency and broaden access to foreign exchange across all categories of market participants.
“Our focus is to create a level playing field so access is not concentrated among a few large corporates.
“When access is broadened, the real sector feels the impact and trade expands,” he said.
Allu noted that equitable allocation mechanisms improve market confidence and enable small and medium-scale enterprises to participate more actively in cross-border trade.
Also, Dr Yemi Kale, Group Chief Economist and Managing Director, Research and Trade Intelligence at African Export-Import Bank, stressed that improving access to affordable finance remained essential to boosting production and exports.
Kale further said, “Access to finance is one of the most important costs of production.
“Improving the availability and affordability of financing will increase output, lower production costs and support export growth.”
He added that credit expansion must be inclusive to deliver meaningful impact.
“It is not just the volume of loans that matters; what matters is how widely they reach businesses, especially smaller firms,” Kale said.
The former Nigeria Bureau of Statistics noted that exporters also require financing to move goods into international markets.
From the payments ecosystem, Mr Robert Kotei, Operations Director for Africa, RIA Money Transfer, said digital payments and remittance flows were becoming powerful enablers of intra-African trade.
“Digitisation is fueling trade and economic growth across Africa.
“In Nigeria, nearly 80 per cent of inflows now go directly into bank and digital accounts, reflecting a rapid shift in financial behaviour.”
He noted that while regional remittance flows were rising, high transfer costs remained a barrier.
“It can cost more to send money within Africa than from outside the continent.
“Reducing these costs will significantly boost regional trade and integration.”
In the agribusiness sector, Alhaji Taiwo Ayoade, Deputy Managing Director of Agro Trader Group, called for a decisive shift toward value addition and regional value chains.
“Africa produces raw materials but imports finished goods. That means we export jobs, prosperity and industrial growth,” he said.
Using cocoa production as an example, he noted that West Africa dominates global supply but processes only a small share locally.
“The issue is not just increasing production; it is adding value. Only when we process and manufacture locally can we truly trade within Africa,” Ayoade said.
He urged policymakers to remove structural barriers to industrialisation, including import duties on manufacturing equipment, export levies and high logistics costs.
“Moving goods within West Africa can cost more than shipping them to Europe. Addressing infrastructure gaps and policy bottlenecks is essential to boosting regional trade,” he added.
Edited by Olawunmi Ashafa
