Good news: Dangote, Flour Mills, other Nigerian companies to begin exporting

• Nine enterprises have received approval from the African Continental Free Trade Area to begin exporting
• Among the businesses are Tolaram, Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN), and Dangote Group
• Together, the nine Nigerian businesses exported their made-in-Nigeria products from Apapa Port

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has given the go-ahead for nine companies to make their first exports. The companies include Dangote Group, Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN), and Tolaram.

Nine Nigerian enterprises combined their made-in-Nigeria goods and exported from Apapa Port. Photo Credit: Jackyenjoyphotography
Source: Getty Images

Other businesses that took advantage of the initial AfCFTA opportunity are Hwani Industry Nigeria Limited, Le Look Nigeria Limited, Secure ID Limited, Avila Naturalle, Craft Methods Limited, and Ruchim Limited.

Nigeria formally launched intra-African commerce on Tuesday, July 16, under the AfCFTA protocol five years after officially assenting to the pact in Niamey, Niger.

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With the official start of the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) and Nigeria’s initial shipment under the AfCFTA protocol, the country has transitioned from preparing to trade under the agreement to actually helping businesses to trade.

As per the National Action Committee on the African Continental Free Trade Area, the goal of the GTI is to match businesses and products for import and export to enable commercially meaningful trading among state parties that have fulfilled the minimal requirements for trade under the agreement.

Given that the AfCFTA is the largest trade area in the world, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately $3.4 trillion and a population of 1.3 billion people, the exports have paved the way for Nigeria to enter a new era of trade and prosperity.

The nine Nigerian enterprises combined their made-in-Nigeria goods and exported from Apapa Port to five nations in the sub-regions of east, central, and north Africa in order to initiate the first shipment under the AfCFTA protocol.

FG announces date to begin new presidential trade

Legit.ng reported that preferential trade under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) was set to be launched by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in keeping with the administration's renewed hope agenda and the ambition of Africa's founding fathers to unite the continent in shared prosperity.

The Preferential Trade ceremony will be launched at Apapa Port in Lagos on July 16, 2024, according to a statement seen by Legit.ng.

According to Olusegun Awolowo, National Coordinator, Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Nigeria became the 34th AfCFTA State Party on July 7, 2019 after it signed the AfCFTA Agreement.

Source: Legit.ng