NACCIMA, GIZ partner to facilitate cross-border trade, export

In the bid to strengthen regional integration, facilitate cross-border agricultural trade, and expand opportunities for micro-small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the National Chamber of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), has partnered with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

At the launch of NACCIMA activities under the ECOWAS Agricultural Trade Programme themed:  “Strengthening ECOWAs Agricultural Market to Drive Food Security and Regional  Prosperity,” NACCIMA President, Jani Ibrahim noted that agriculture continues to play a critical role in Nigeria’s economy, adding that in Q4 2024, the sector contributed about 24.64% to GDP.

“With the recent GDP rebasing, the share of agriculture in national output has risen. Early 2025 estimates show agriculture’s share of GDP at around 27.8%.”

Ibrahim however noted that despite its large role in the economy and its sustenance of livelihoods, Nigeria’s agricultural exports remain modest.

He disclosed that it is against this backdrop that the EAT Project and NACCIMA’s role take on special relevance. He said for NACCIMA, this initiative aligns perfectly with the association’s mandate to empower the private sector, promote enabling policies, and strengthen export competitiveness.

“Through this Project, we intend to address longstanding bottlenecks that hinder trade through the capacity building of traders and SMEs within the agribusiness value chain, enabling them to meet requirements for regional markets.

“By unlocking the potential of regional agricultural trade, we are not just moving goods; we are unlocking livelihoods, creating value, deepening regional economic integration, and contributing to food security for millions across West Africa.

“The opportunities are enormous, with Nigeria’s burgeoning population and rising urban demand, ECOWAS’s vast markets, and the dynamism of our private sector.

“But we must also recognise the challenges: infrastructure gaps, limited access to finance, weak value-chain linkages, and non-tariff barriers. This is why a coordinated effort under the EAT Project, with NACCIMA as a central private-sector anchor, is so critical.

The NACCIMA boss applauded GIZ and ECOWAS, its development partners, for entrusting NACCIMA with the responsibility.

He noted that the partnership promises stronger agricultural value chains, better market access, enhanced trade in food and agro-products, and a more vibrant role for the private sector in shaping regional trade in West Africa.”

For the Director General, NACCIMA, Sola Obadimu, agriculture remains a major pillar of Nigeria’s economy, contributing about one-quarter of its GDP and supporting millions of livelihoods.

Obadimu noted that yet, despite the  vast potential, the nation’s agricultural export earnings remain below expectation, even as the wider ECOWAS region with a population of over 400 million people continues to offer huge untapped market opportunities.

The DG pointed out that the EAT Project is therefore timely, as it  strengthens the  collective effort to boost intra-regional agricultural trade, improve standards, remove non-tariff barriers, and support SMEs to participate more competitively in regional value chains.

“For NACCIMA, this intervention aligns strongly with our mandate to promote trade, support private-sector competitiveness, and deepen regional integration.

“Under this project, NACCIMA will lead a series of activities focused on capacity building and improving access to market information. Our aim is simple: to ensure that Nigerian agribusinesses are better positioned to take advantage of opportunities within the ECOWAS market and contribute meaningfully to national and regional growth.”

For   Arne Schuffenhauver, Program Lead, GIZ- EAT, the programme is funded by the German government, implemented in partnership with the ECOWAS Commission,  and with many other partners in five countries of which Nigeria is one of them.

 Schuffenhauver said ECOWAS trade is one of the biggest markets for food products in West Africa.

He noted that the GIZ partnered NACCIMA because the association gives services to members and non-members on how to better access markets, how to trade, how to go through inspections and customs in an efficient way.

“So NACCIMA is a strategic partner for us, noting  that  the EAT project is important to really accelerate trade with food products.

“So the benefit is knowledge, access to information, access to markets, to promote these businesses of smaller, medium enterprises, also youth and women.”

He said  for the moment, cross-border trade is not recognized as a huge business because the narrative at the moment is that it’s too small to invest and defragmented.

The project lead, GIZ-EAT, said   the cross-border food trade is a big business of 10 billion dollars.

“So it means there’s a lot of opportunities.  There are still challenges for small and medium traders to really invest, to have access to finance, to cross the borders without any obstacles.

“So there’s also other solutions that we support, like small infrastructure, cool stores, solar-powered cool stores, even very simple aspects like transporting a product from a market to the next destination, so across the border with tricycles.

“All of these small business cases are important to show policy makers that there are solutions and these solutions are attractive for making money, for profits, for creating jobs, for creating incomes.

“We just have to channel funds, credits, into these directions so that we can invest more into these businesses for the benefit of traders and  also consumers.”

Nancy Okpa, Principal Trade Promotion Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), noted that the launch

marks a significant milestone in regional economic cooperation by creating a structural platform for producers, processors, exporters, policy makers and development partners.

“This initiative advances a shared vision and integrated West African market where agricultural value chains thrive.

Okpa said through this collaboration, barriers to trade are reduced, opportunities for inclusive growth are expanded.

“As Nigeria continues to defend its core values, agriculture remains central to our national and economic strategy.”

She noted that the framework for agricultural trade facilitation lies strongly with the council’s mandate to support exporters, improve competitiveness and help Nigerian producers meet regional and global demands.

“We particularly commend NACCIMA and GIZ for their commitment to empowering agricultural businesses and strengthening the capacities of all stakeholders.

“This initiative comes at a crucial time when strategic patterns are needed to unlock the immense potential of the West African agricultural sector.”