Sunday Okobi
In its commitment to African economic integration, the NEPAD Business Group Nigeria (NBGN) under the leadership of its President, Bashorun J. K. Randle, has successfully relaunched NBGN’s strategic agenda and underscored its renewed partnership with continental powerhouse African Business Roundtable (ABR), as well as co-hosted a pivotal Business Forum on Operationalising the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The landmark event was recently held in collaboration with ABR on the sidelines of the recently held Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM 2025).
In a statement made available yesterday to THISDAY, the forum, convened at a critical juncture for Africa’s economic future, brought together over 100 high-level public and private sector leaders, development financiers, regulators, and thought leaders.
It served as a dynamic platform to translate the ambitious goals of the AfCFTA into actionable strategies, positioning NBGN at the forefront of Nigeria’s and Africa’s trade renaissance.
The President, Bashorun Randle, in his welcome remarks, set a resolute tone for NBGN’s revitalised mission, emphasising the AfCFTA as an engine for industrialization and job creation, as he outlined NBGN’s focus on building the internal capabilities essential for success: robust infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and vibrant domestic industries.
According to him, “We must adopt a bold, visionary, and pragmatic approach,” highlighting NBGN’s commitment to overcoming economic bottlenecks, facilitating trade infrastructure, and unlocking finance for SMEs, and championing public-private collaboration aligned with Agenda 2063.
With its key theme: ‘Charting the Path Forward’, the forum yielded critical insights central to NBGN’s relaunched strategy:
On infrastructure imperative, panelists unanimously identified reliable power (emphasised by Mallam Idris DanlamiMohammad), efficient logistics, and digital trade infrastructure as non-negotiable foundations, adding that NBGN champions investments in these areas as paramount for intra-African trade.
“On empowering African SMEs, recognising SMEs as the backbone of trade, discussions featured solutions like Zenith Bank’s ‘Z-Woman’ and ‘Zero to Hero’ programmes and Sterling Bank’s initiatives to bridge raw material gaps. NBGN commits to advocating tailored financing and capacity-building for SMEs.
“On policy harmonisation and trade facilitation, representatives from ECOWAS (Mr. Kolawole Sofola) and Nigerian Customs (Mr. Mojeed Omoniyi) detailed efforts to streamline procedures, digitalise systems (like the SIGMA platform), and eliminate Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), and NBGN will actively support these harmonisation efforts,” the statement noted.
On industrialisation and value addition, Dr. Amany Asfour (Africa Business Council) called on Africa to move beyond raw material exports. He said: “Industrialisation of raw materials is essential. Change begins with us by building our capabilities, as NBGN places domestic production capacity and value addition at the core of its agenda.”
The statement added: “The forum signified more than just an event; it heralds the energetic re-launch of NBGN as a key driver of Nigeria’s participation in the AfCFTA. By forging a strong alliance with ABR and convening diverse stakeholders, NBGN has demonstrated its revitalized capacity to facilitate dialogue, shape policy advocacy, and promote practical, private sector-led solutions.”
