ACCI: Nigeria must seize AGOA window to boost exports beyond oil.

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has called on the Federal Government and the Nigerian private sector to adopt a coordinated strategy to maximise the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) through December 2028.

The Chamber described the extension as a strategic opportunity to strengthen Nigeria’s export competitiveness, diversify the economy, create jobs and expand non-oil exports.

In a policy statement titled “From AGOA Opportunity to Sustainable Export Competitiveness,” the President of ACCI, Chief Emeka Obegolu, SAN, PhD, said Nigeria must use the 2026–2028 period to address longstanding challenges that have limited the country’s utilisation of AGOA.

He identified inadequate market intelligence, product quality and certification, regulatory compliance, packaging, production capacity, financing, aggregation, logistics and value addition among the major challenges.

The Chamber urged Nigeria to move decisively from exporting raw commodities to processing, packaging, branding and value addition. It identified shea butter, cashew, ginger, hibiscus, sesame and sesame oil, textiles and apparel, processed agricultural products, selected solid-mineral products and creative-industry products as areas with significant potential in the U.S. market.

According to ACCI, increased domestic processing would help retain more value within Nigeria, stimulate industrial development and create employment.

The Chamber also called for stronger support for MSMEs and small-scale exporters, noting that many have exportable products but lack adequate production volumes, financing, warehousing and logistics capacity.

ACCI said it would promote an open-access export enablement programme to provide practical export information, compliance support, market intelligence, buyer linkages and aggregation opportunities.

It added that the programme would facilitate business-to-business engagements, trade missions, reverse trade missions and direct connections between Nigerian exporters and U.S. buyers.

The Chamber further called on the Federal Government and relevant agencies to urgently address policy and infrastructure bottlenecks affecting export competitiveness.

It recommended faster and digitally enabled Certificates of Origin, targeted duty relief on export-oriented machinery and packaging equipment, improved electricity supply, lower inland logistics costs, simplified export documentation and an effective single-window system for export-related permits and approvals.

The ACCI President stressed that Nigeria’s export strategy must go beyond the lifespan of AGOA, urging businesses to build sustainable competitiveness through quality, certification, innovation, ethical sourcing, branding, technology, productivity and value addition.

He noted that capabilities developed through AGOA should also position Nigerian businesses to expand into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and other international markets.

Obegolu reaffirmed ACCI’s commitment to working with government, the private sector, financial institutions, development partners, export-support agencies and regulatory institutions to build a competitive export economy.

He said the AGOA extension must not become another missed opportunity for Nigeria, stressing that “this is not merely an AGOA opportunity. It is a national export imperative.