The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has called on the Federal Government to strengthen quality assurance and certification systems, warning that weaknesses in product standards and export processes are limiting Nigeria’s ability to maximize gains from international trade.
In its latest Foreign Trade Review, the NESG acknowledged Nigeria’s strong trade performance in the first quarter of 2026 but stressed that structural challenges continue to undermine the country’s export competitiveness and value retention.
According to the group, improving product quality, streamlining export certification procedures, and enhancing port efficiency are essential steps toward expanding non-oil exports and strengthening Nigeria’s position in global markets.
The NESG noted that one of the major obstacles confronting Nigerian exporters is the inability of some locally produced goods to consistently meet international quality and certification requirements.
The group argued that strengthening quality assurance mechanisms would improve the competitiveness of Nigerian products, boost market access, and increase export earnings.
“Nigeria needs to strengthen quality assurance and certification systems to improve the competitiveness of locally produced goods,” the report stated.
The NESG added that stronger certification processes would also help address the growing challenge of export rerouting through neighbouring countries, a practice that often deprives Nigeria of economic value and weakens the country’s trade statistics.
According to the report, many Nigerian products are exported indirectly through neighbouring countries due to logistical bottlenecks, certification challenges, and inefficiencies within the domestic export ecosystem.
The group warned that this trend limits Nigeria’s ability to capture the full economic benefits of its exports and weakens the country’s competitiveness in international markets.
To reverse the trend, NESG called for reforms aimed at simplifying export procedures, reducing bureaucratic delays, and lowering logistics costs at ports and border points.
“Export procedures and port operations need to be streamlined to reduce delays and logistics costs,” the report stated.
The NESG also emphasised the need for increased investment in infrastructure and industrial processing zones to promote value addition before products are exported.
According to the group, Nigeria must move beyond exporting largely raw commodities and instead encourage the production and export of processed agricultural products and light manufactured goods.
Such a strategy, it said, would enable the country to derive greater value from trade while creating jobs and supporting industrial development.
The report further noted that expanding value-added exports would position Nigeria to take fuller advantage of opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Beyond domestic reforms, the NESG urged Nigeria to deepen trade engagement with key Asian markets, particularly China and India.
The report showed that while Asia accounted for 55.5 per cent of Nigeria’s merchandise imports during the first quarter of 2026, the region absorbed only 30.3 per cent of the country’s exports.
This imbalance, according to the NESG, highlights significant untapped opportunities for Nigerian exporters.
The group specifically pointed to China’s recently introduced two-year non-reciprocal tariff-free policy for African exports as a major opportunity that Nigeria should aggressively pursue.
However, the report noted that Nigeria was absent from the first batch of shipments exported under the Chinese initiative, underscoring the need to improve export readiness and competitiveness.
The recommendations come despite Nigeria recording a robust trade surplus in the first quarter of 2026.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s merchandise trade surplus rose sharply to N7.55 trillion in Q1 2026, representing a 340.88 per cent increase from the N1.71 trillion recorded in the previous quarter.
Total merchandise trade stood at N34.79 trillion during the period, with exports accounting for more than 60 per cent of total trade.
Crude oil remained the country’s dominant export commodity, generating N11.20 trillion and accounting for 52.92 per cent of total exports.
The NESG, however, warned that Nigeria’s long-term trade sustainability depends on diversifying exports, strengthening quality standards, improving logistics infrastructure, and building a more competitive non-oil export sector capable of thriving in regional and global markets.
