With at least 10 major trade deals worth over $100 million currently under negotiation between African and Arab partners, the Federal Government has renewed its call for African nations to deepen regional trade and investment as development aid to the continent continues to shrink.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made the call yesterday in Abuja at the 5th B2B Agribusiness Matchmaking Event. He warned that African economies must increasingly turn to intra-continental markets and private capital to sustain growth in the face of dwindling global support.
Edun said recent data showed a sharp contraction in overseas development assistance and concessional financing to developing countries. According to African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates, Africa recorded a nine per cent drop in development aid in 2024 and is projected to face a further 17 per cent decline in 2025.
He said the shifting global economic climate, marked by rising debt and shrinking multilateral cooperation, demands a new strategy. “African countries are faced with high debt burdens and high debt servicing requirements that are gulping funds meant for public investment,” he said.
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Edun stressed that private investment—both domestic and foreign—remains the most reliable engine of growth. He noted that traditional multilateral support structures have weakened. “The world has turned away from multilateralism… the cooperation of past decades is fast receding,” he added.
Given the downturn, he urged African nations to rely more on regional markets. “Concessional financing and development assistance to Africa have turned negative. We must look inward, trade more with each other and grow our economies together,” he said.
At the forum, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Welcome2Africa International, Bamidele Seun Awoola, confirmed that the organisation and its partners aim to facilitate at least 10 trade agreements worth no less than $100 million between African and Arab markets.
Awoola said the platform was created to unlock new commercial partnerships, boost value addition and strengthen regional value chains. She noted that investor interest already suggests opportunities “far surpassing the $100 million target.”
One of the organisation’s core goals, she said, is to drive industrialisation through joint ventures that bring processors and manufacturers to Nigeria. She emphasised that Nigeria must complement its agricultural potential with strong processing capacity to create jobs and deepen economic growth.
Awoola said her team carried out detailed market studies to identify competitive products for the Arab market and ensured that only credible participants capable of closing transactions were invited to the matchmaking sessions.
She expressed confidence that the discussions would lead to concrete partnerships, joint ventures and wealth-creating ventures aligned with Nigeria’s development agenda.
A key outcome of the Abuja meetings was the signing of two Membership Agreements with Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire. Nigeria, represented by the Federal Ministry of Finance, was formally admitted into the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Programme.
The AATB programme supports trade facilitation, enhances export competitiveness and targets key sectors such as agribusiness value chains and small and medium enterprises. It also assists member nations with logistics, industrial development and expanded access to regional and global markets.
