• Super Admin
• 06 Mar, 2026

Industry stakeholders have identified poor standardisation, weak logistics, and policy imbalances as major barriers to intra-African trade, urging governments across the continent to prioritise value addition and seamless movement of goods. This formed the crux of discussions at the ongoing West Africa Industrialisation, Manufacturing & Trade Summit & Exhibition, holding at the Landmark Centre. The panel featured Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Coleman Technical Industries Limited, George Onafowokan; Vice President of the World Trade Center Lagos, David Oke; Taiwo Ajetunmobi representing the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership; Founder and CEO of SeedaTree Capital, Bowale Adeoye; and Founder/CEO of Matta, Mudiaga Mowoe. Speaking during the session, Onafowokan, whose company manufactures wires and cables, identified lack of harmonised standards and logistics bottlenecks as the biggest obstacles to intra-African trade. "We've made progress in standardisation, but whatever standard is used should be acceptable across countries. If a product is approved in Nigeria, it should be acceptable in Ghana or Cameroon," he said. According to him, certification is not the main challenge; rather, it is the movement of goods and people across borders. He noted that multiple border charges, poor road networks, and policy inconsistencies continue to hinder trade within West Africa and beyond. "Each country sees border crossings as revenue sources, which ultimately frustrates trade. If I produce in Nigeria and want to move goods to West Africa, it should be seamless," he stressed, calling for improved container transport systems and simplified logistics across the continent. Onafowokan emphasised the need for African countries to move away from exporting raw materials and instead focus on building competitive regional supply chains. Drawing a comparison with China, he noted that although the country imports about 40 percent of the world's copper, it processes and exports finished goods at significantly higher value. "They buy raw materials, process them into finished products, and export them at multiple times the original value. That is how you build a strong trade balance," he explained. He lamented that Africa continues to export crude oil, cocoa, and other raw commodities only to import refined petroleum products and finished chocolate at higher costs. "It does not make sense that we see ourselves as the world's raw material source and the biggest consumers of the finished products made from those same materials," he said. "Until we wake up and prioritise value addition, our non-oil exports will never surpass oil exports." Source: https://independent.ng/onafowokan-industry-leaders-call-for-standardisation-value-addition-to-boost-intra-african-trade/