The NEPAD Business Group Nigeria (NBGN) has renewed its commitment to driving Africa’s economic integration by partnering with the African Business Roundtable (ABR) to fast-track the operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The collaboration, announced during a high-level forum held on the sidelines of the Afreximbank Annual Meetings 2025, is set to reposition NBGN as a key player in Nigeria’s and Africa’s trade renaissance.

The Business Forum on Operationalising the AfCFTA, co-hosted by NBGN Chairman Bashorun Randle and ABR, brought together over 100 industry leaders, policy makers, and development financiers. The event was aimed at transforming AfCFTA’s ambitious goals into actionable strategies to boost intra-African trade and stimulate private sector-driven economic growth.


In his welcome address, Randle underscored the importance of AfCFTA as a catalyst for industrialisation and job creation, stressing that Africa must build robust internal capabilities to fully exploit its benefits.

“We must adopt a bold, visionary, and pragmatic approach,” Randle stated, highlighting NBGN’s agenda to dismantle economic bottlenecks, unlock trade finance for SMEs, and foster public-private collaboration aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.



The discussions, themed “Infrastructure Imperative for AfCFTA Success,” produced key resolutions:

Reliable Power & Logistics: Panellists, including Mallam Idris Danlami Mohammad, identified stable electricity, efficient logistics, and digital trade systems as non-negotiable for seamless intra-African trade.

SME Empowerment: Recognising that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) form the backbone of AfCFTA, financial inclusion programmes such as Zenith Bank’s Z-Woman and Sterling Bank’s Zero to Hero were highlighted as models for SME capacity-building and trade financing.

Policy Harmonisation: ECOWAS and Nigerian Customs representatives, Kolawole Sofola and Mojeed Omoniyi, detailed ongoing digitalisation initiatives such as the SIGMA platform to streamline cross-border trade and remove Non-Tariff Barriers.

Industrialisation & Value Addition: Dr. Amany Asfour of the Africa Business Council urged African nations to move away from raw material export dependency by investing in local industrial capacity and value addition.

The forum also stressed the need to reshape Africa’s global image. Dr. Waheed Olagunju dismissed negative stereotypes, insisting that Africa’s abundant resources and growing consumer market position it as an economic powerhouse.

“Africa is not synonymous with poverty. We must mobilise domestic resources, deepen capital markets, and use media to rewrite our narrative,” he said.



NBGN pledged to actively support these efforts by mobilising investments in key infrastructure, advocating for SME-friendly trade policies, and partnering with continental institutions to ensure AfCFTA’s successful rollout.


With over 1.4 billion consumers and a projected $3.4 trillion combined GDP, AfCFTA is regarded as the world’s largest free trade area. Experts believe Nigeria, as Africa’s largest economy, must take a leading role in driving the agreement’s success. NBGN’s renewed alliance with ABR signals a more coordinated private-sector effort to position Nigerian businesses competitively within the continental market.

Industry analysts argue that if properly implemented, AfCFTA could reduce Africa’s overdependence on foreign markets, create millions of jobs, and increase intra-African trade by 52% within the next five years, according to the African Union.

As NBGN pushes ahead with its strategic agenda, all eyes will be on how quickly Nigeria can translate these bold discussions into tangible trade outcomes that will stimulate economic growth and regional integration.