General
WTO Urges Overhaul, Reforms of Nigerian Customs Practices
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has expressed concerns over the high rate of physical inspection of containers at Nigerian ports, urging the country to review its customs procedures to promote timely and cost-effective practices.
Members of the Trade Policy Review organ of the organisation also stated that longstanding import prohibitions on a wide array of agricultural products, coupled with tariff peaks and additional levies, had the potential to worsen food insecurity, higher food price inflation, and negatively affect private sector investments in the agricultural sector.
Those were part of the submissions made by members of the body during the recently concluded sixth Trade Policy Review of the WTO, which focused on Nigeria in Switzerland.
The Ambassador of Nigeria to WTO, Mr Adamu Abdulhamid, who doubles as Chairperson of the WTO Trade Policy Review Body for the 2024/2025 period, explained that the review provided Nigeria with a good opportunity to better understand and discuss the country’s trade policy developments since its previous review in 2017.
The body appreciated Nigeria’s active participation and constructive role at the WTO, including by ratifying the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement.
It also highlighted Nigeria’s constructive engagement in ongoing negotiations and its instrumental coordinating role concerning fisheries subsidies and agriculture negotiations.
Nigeria was also encouraged to join the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement and the Government Procurement Agreement, as well as to incorporate the Services Domestic Regulation commitments into its WTO schedule of commitments.
“Members welcomed Nigeria’s initiative to undertake significant economic policy reforms against a particularly challenging global economic environment to strengthen its macroeconomic and fiscal situation.”
The key three areas were highlighted in particular, including the removal of fuel subsidies, saying by doing so Nigeria also sought to achieve positive results in the fight against climate change.
There was also the need of an introduction of a floating and market-driven foreign exchange rate system and removal of restrictions on the use of foreign exchange for imports.
The body also said efforts to improve the business and trade environment, including adopting a new customs code, starting to improve tax administration, and enacting new copyright and competition acts, must be followed.
It was pointed out that members also stressed that transparency and predictability in the business and investment environment would benefit from further reforms, including by improving the complex regulatory Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) frameworks.
Members also praised Nigeria’s various growth and development plans as well as its new trade and investment policies aimed at diversifying the economy.
“They also expressed strong interest in better understanding the implementation of existing subsidy schemes. In this context, some delegations noted the increasing share of trade in goods and services in Nigeria’s GDP and highlighted the increase in the share of the manufacturing sector in GDP, which nearly doubled from 8.6% in 2017 to 15.7 per cent in 2023.
“Members lauded Nigeria’s efforts on trade facilitation and for streamlining its customs procedures, including by introducing the Authorised Economic Operator scheme in 2024,” a statement said.
On tariffs generally, members expressed concern that Nigeria had bound only 19.7 per cent of its tariff lines, with the average bound rate standing at 120 per cent, while the average applied rate was 12.8 per cent in 2023.
In this regard, members encouraged Nigeria to enhance predictability and good governance and to increase its binding coverage as well as reduce the bound rates.
There were also concerns over the high number of outstanding notifications by Nigeria, including on anti-dumping, agriculture, subsidies, State Trading Enterprises, quantitative restrictions, and import licensing.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Bola Tinubu on Saturday confirmed the killing of a senior ISIS leader, Mr Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, in an overnight operation carried out by the United States and Nigeria.
President Donald Trump had earlier announced the elimination of the notorious terrorist via a post on his Truth Social.
Later, in a statement today, Mr Tinubu praised the action, describing it as “a significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism.”
“Our determined Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed Forces of the United States, conducted a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” he said in the statement.
According to him, early assessments confirm the elimination of the wanted IS senior leader, Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.
He commended the partnership between Nigeria and America in waging war against terrorists, thanking his US counterpart “for his leadership and unwavering support in this effort.”
“I commend the personnel involved on both sides for their professionalism and courage, and I look forward to more decisive strikes against all terrorist enclaves across the nation,” the Nigerian leader added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is set to strengthen its defence architecture by deploying artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems and advanced anti-drone technology as part of efforts to modernise the country’s military capabilities, according to the Minister of Defence, Mr Christopher Musa.
He disclosed this during a high-level visit to Monaco, where he led a Nigerian delegation to conclude discussions on the multi-domain Hybrid Intelligence Shield (HIS) project.
According to Mr Musa, the initiative is designed to enhance border security, protect urban centres and improve the country’s response to emerging security threats.
The project is expected to introduce AI-driven surveillance systems capable of identifying threats rapidly through smart algorithms, while anti-drone technology will be deployed to intercept and neutralise unmanned aerial threats.
The government also plans to establish national and regional command-and-control centres to improve real-time coordination and response to security incidents across the country.
Mr Musa said the initiative would place strong emphasis on technology transfer and local capacity development through the establishment of a military Centre of Excellence in Nigeria.
He added that the federal government would leverage partnerships with international firms, including Marss UK Ltd, while simultaneously building indigenous capabilities to address insurgency, illegal mining, piracy and other security threats.
Nigeria has continued to battle multiple security challenges in recent years, including insurgency in the North-East, banditry and kidnappings in the North-West, farmer-herder clashes in the North-Central region, crude oil theft in the Niger Delta and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
Nigeria is stepping up its defence as the border region of Nigeria, Benin and Niger on the southern edge of the Sahel region is becoming a new stronghold for jihadists, as militants turn forests and pastoral networks in West Africa into bases for recruitment and international attacks.
Attacks in Nigeria have also risen, with data from the website of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a conflict-monitoring group, affirming that the number of suicide bombings in Nigeria by March already matched the annual average over the past six years.
The Nigerian military has also been dealt a blow to its military bases and senior figures targeted. In April, Brigadier-General Oseni Omoh Braimah was killed when Islamist fighters attacked a base in Borno State.
To also meet the defence goal, Nigeria is stepping up efforts to build domestic arms-manufacturing capacity.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria and Morocco are set to sign a major intergovernmental agreement later this year to push forward the long-delayed Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project, a multi-billion-dollar energy corridor expected to reshape gas trade across West Africa and Europe.
The agreement, expected to be signed in the fourth quarter of 2026 by President Bola Tinubu and King Mohammed VI of Morocco, follows the completion of preliminary technical studies for the ambitious project, according to officials from both countries.
The pipeline, also known as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, is projected to stretch about 6,900 kilometres along offshore and onshore routes across West Africa, making it one of the largest gas infrastructure projects on the continent.
With an estimated cost of $25 billion, the pipeline is designed to transport up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually once completed.
Discussions on the project gained fresh momentum during a telephone conversation between Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and her Moroccan counterpart, Mr Nasser Bourita.
The project would not only strengthen energy cooperation between the two countries but also improve regional economic integration and expand Africa’s access to European energy markets.
According to Morocco’s hydrocarbons and mining agency, ONHYM, part of the gas supply will support Morocco’s domestic energy demand, while large export volumes will be directed to Europe.
The project, first proposed about a decade ago, is seen as a strategic alternative gas supply route amid rising global energy security concerns and Europe’s search for more diversified energy sources.
Beyond the pipeline, Nigeria and Morocco are also exploring broader economic partnerships, particularly in fertiliser production and distribution to support food security across Africa.
Both countries also agreed on the need to revive the Nigeria-Morocco Business Council to strengthen trade and investment relations under the African Continental Free Trade Area framework.
Analysts noted that the project could significantly boost gas monetisation opportunities for Nigeria, expand regional infrastructure development, and deepen economic ties between West African nations and Europe if successfully executed.
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