Nigeria has launched new trade intelligence tools designed to help local businesses access international markets, attract productive investments and strengthen domestic industries' competitiveness as part of efforts to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, unveiled the initiative in Abuja, saying the tools would provide exporters and investors with reliable market information to guide business decisions, navigate trade requirements and translate economic reforms into industrial growth and job creation.
Capital importation into Nigeria has surged from about $3.9 billion in 2023 to more than $23 billion in 2025, according to the minister. Non-oil exports reached a record N12.36 trillion, with Nigerian products gaining access to more than 120 countries. Intra-African trade also grew by 21 per cent in 2025. Despite these gains, Oduwole stressed the need to convert the progress into productive investments, completed export transactions and stronger domestic industries.
Businesses in Nigeria continue to face high production costs, limited access to finance, logistics constraints and complex trade procedures, the minister acknowledged. The new tools are expected to help exporters identify promising markets, understand applicable tariffs and entry requirements, and obtain credible information before shipping their products. A formal launch of the government's Trade Portal is planned for CANEX Weekend, scheduled for November 5 to 8, 2026. The portal is expected to provide businesses with market intelligence and help convert trade contacts into actual commercial transactions.
The minister also identified the Intra-African Trade Fair 2027 as a key opportunity to expand trade and promote Nigerian products. The President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Jani Ibrahim, called for increased private-sector investment in value-added exports, competitive manufacturing and priority export value chains. Ibrahim said such investments would improve the global competitiveness of Nigerian products, increase domestic value addition and create more jobs.
For savers, borrowers, business owners and investors, the new tools mean potential access to better market information and reduced barriers to exporting, though businesses still face structural challenges in production costs and logistics that the tools alone cannot address.