Africa’s economic integration agenda is entering a more practical phase. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is no longer only about removing tariffs; it is increasingly about making it faster, cheaper and easier for businesses to move goods, make payments and access markets across borders.
Nigeria’s efforts to reduce the processing time for AfCFTA Certificates of Origin to 24 hours offer a powerful example of what administrative reform can achieve. By digitising trade procedures, Nigeria is tackling one of the less visible but significant barriers facing exporters: delays in obtaining the documentation required to access preferential treatment under AfCFTA.
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The reform reflects a wider modernisation of Nigeria’s trade architecture. In March 2026, the government launched the National Single Window, designed to create a unified digital gateway for cross-border trade and reduce the duplication of procedures across government agencies. The initiative brings together institutions involved in customs, standards, ports, food and drug regulation and other aspects of trade facilitation.
Nigeria’s customs modernisation is also gaining continental attention. In August 2026, the State House announced that an AfCFTA customs modernisation project would deploy digital and physical infrastructure for customs processes, cargo tracking, border management and trade-data exchange across participating African countries. The AfCFTA Secretariat described Nigeria’s B’Odogwu customs platform as a model with potential relevance beyond the country.
These developments matter because the success of AfCFTA ultimately depends on what happens after a trade agreement is signed. Businesses need efficient customs systems, reliable payments, predictable regulations and infrastructure capable of moving products across borders.
Nigeria is also strengthening the digital side of this equation. In March 2026, the Federal Government launched a report on cross-border digital payments and identity under AfCFTA, highlighting the importance of affordable and seamless transactions for Nigerian micro, small and medium-sized enterprises seeking access to the continental market. The government identified the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) as an important platform for enabling cross-border payments.
PAPSS is already expanding the financial infrastructure required for intra-African commerce. Afreximbank reported in 2025 that the system had connected 16 countries, 14 payment switches and more than 150 commercial banks, including 22 banks in Nigeria. By allowing transactions in African currencies, PAPSS can reduce some of the costs and complications associated with conventional cross-border payments.
Yet digital efficiency cannot by itself solve Africa’s physical trade problem.
A certificate can be issued in 24 hours, but the product still has to reach the customer. Poor roads, congestion, border delays, limited rail connectivity, fragmented logistics systems and high transport costs can undermine the gains achieved through faster documentation.
This is where Nigeria’s broader infrastructure agenda becomes important. Rail projects, road corridors, port modernisation and improved border infrastructure are essential complements to digital trade reforms. Without them, exporters may find that administrative barriers have fallen while the cost and uncertainty of physically moving goods remain high.
The challenge is particularly important for Nigeria because AfCFTA presents an opportunity to diversify the country’s export base. Petroleum remains central to Nigeria’s exports, but the continental market also offers opportunities for processed agricultural products, manufactured goods, fashion, pharmaceuticals, food products and services.
Recent Nigerian businesses have already demonstrated the potential. Nigerian enterprises are increasingly exploring markets across Africa, while government-backed initiatives are seeking to help MSMEs overcome barriers involving payments, identity, customs and market access.
The larger lesson is that trade reform must be treated as an interconnected system. Faster certificates, digital customs, cross-border payments and better trade data are valuable individually, but their greatest impact comes when they operate alongside efficient transport and logistics infrastructure.
AfCFTA itself is designed to create a single African market and increase trade in value-added goods and services. Nigeria’s scale means that its success or failure in implementing these reforms will have implications beyond its own exporters.
The 24-hour certificate initiative therefore represents more than an administrative improvement. It demonstrates how digitalisation can remove friction from African trade. The next challenge is ensuring that the infrastructure underneath the digital system keeps pace.
For Nigeria, the opportunity is to build a trade ecosystem in which a business can obtain its certificate quickly, receive payment seamlessly, clear customs efficiently and move its products across African borders at competitive cost.
That is the point at which AfCFTA moves from an ambitious continental agreement to a practical engine of African commerce.
