NCDMB Unveils Pathway To $3.4tn AfCFTA Energy Market For Nigerian Firms
Nigeria’s energy companies risk missing out on Africa’s vast free trade market unless they build export readiness into their projects from day one, and that message rang loud at a strategic webinar hosted by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The pre-conference session, held on Wednesday ahead of the Nigeria Local Content AfCFTA Energy Summit on Monday, 9 February 2026, mapped out how Nigerian products and services can qualify for preferential access to the 54-country AfCFTA market worth $3.4 trillion and serving about 1.4 billion people.
The webinar, themed ‘Meeting AfCFTA Origin Requirements in Energy Trade’, drew stakeholders from oil and gas, power and renewable energy.
Backed by the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, and Acting Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr Ene Ette, the session tackled one of the biggest hurdles to AfCFTA trade: meeting rules-of-origin requirements.
Representing Nigeria’s AfCFTA Coordination Office, communications analyst Joseph Nwokedi urged firms to think beyond Nigeria’s 200 million consumers and target the continental market, noting that even one per cent penetration equals 14 million customers.
He stressed that energy is central to Africa’s integration, turning power from a domestic utility into a tradable and investable export sector under AfCFTA.
Four pathways for participation were highlighted: power supply to industrial clusters and export zones under the
Electricity Act 2023; cross-border export of professional energy services; preferential trade in refined petroleum products, gas derivatives, electricity and renewable components that meet origin rules; and attracting cross-border investment through AfCFTA’s investment protocol and Nigeria’s 2024–2025 investment incentives.
Assistant Comptroller of Customs, Burhan Sulaiman, explained that AfCFTA will remove tariffs on 90 per cent of goods over five to 10 years, with a further seven per cent liberalised over 13 years, but only for goods that meet origin requirements.
He clarified that origin depends on where production occurs, not company ownership, and outlined qualifying routes through “wholly obtained” goods or “substantial transformation”.
He warned that weak documentation and minimal processing can cost exporters duty-free access.
Officials disclosed that 92 per cent of AfCFTA rules of origin have been agreed, with talks ongoing in the textiles and automotive sectors.
Nigeria has rolled out paperless electronic certification, while Customs is adopting risk-based systems that could allow exporter self-certification.
Sensitisation efforts are being stepped up nationwide, and Customs reaffirmed its open-door policy for pre-export origin verification.
The webinar positioned Nigeria as a potential regional energy and transition-fuel hub, urging firms to design projects for origin compliance, form regional joint ventures and align with continental standards.
The technical session sets the tone for the Nigeria Local Content AfCFTA Energy Summit, where policymakers and industry leaders will chart strategies to unlock Africa’s energy future.
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