The AFCTFA Execution Gap

Our white paper, "The AFCTFA Execution Gap," highlights that Nigeria's main challenge with the AfCFTA isn't participation but rather execution. We explore the existing "execution gap" and propose actionable steps to enhance legal, institutional, and operational frameworks, aiming to transform Nigeria's trade commitments into tangible economic benefits. This white paper argues that Nigeria’s central AfCFTA challenge is not participation, but execution. Although the country has signed and ratified the agreement, gazetted tariff concessions, and begun limited trading under the Guided Trade Initiative, it has not yet built the domestic legal, institutional, and operational systems needed for full implementation. The paper describes this as an “execution gap” that leaves Nigeria formally engaged in AfCFTA but not yet fully positioned to benefit from it at scale.Using a diagnostic framework built around legal and regulatory alignment, institutional coordination, technical depth, financing, and private-sector readiness, the paper shows how implementation constraints reinforce one another. It argues that weak domestication, diffuse authority, limited frontline capability, and underfunded systems reduce Nigeria’s ability to convert trade commitments into measurable economic gains. The paper also identifies a hybrid domestication approach, stronger coordination architecture, customs digitisation, rules-of-origin infrastructure, and sector-specific readiness measures as priority actions. The paper concludes that 2026 is a strategic window for Nigeria to move from formal participation to coordinated execution. Its main contribution is a policy and institutional roadmap for turning AfCFTA from a diplomatic milestone into a practical competitiveness strategy for Nigeria. We invite you to read our findings and share your thoughts!​