•Says our goal is to export skills, not just goods

As global trade increasingly shifts from physical goods to services and digital delivery, Nigeria is positioning its vast youthful population to compete and win on the world stage. With services already contributing more than half of the country’s GDP but accounting for only a tiny share of global services exports, the Federal Government says a major reset is underway.

Speaking from Geneva, Switzerland, where she attended the World Trade Organisation’s Trade in Services for Development Conference, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, outlined Nigeria’s strategy to transform its young population into a globally competitive workforce. 

At the heart of this push, she said, is a deliberate focus on skills development, digital training, regulatory reforms and international market access. 

In this exclusive interview conducted  by Victor Ahiuma-Young, via Zoom, Oduwole explains how initiatives such as the National Talent Export Policy, the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol and targeted women-focused interventions are being deployed to prepare Nigerian youths, professionals and entrepreneurs for global digital jobs. 

She also speaks on efforts to secure international recognition for Nigerian skills and qualifications, unlock new export markets and ensure that Nigeria exports not just products, but talent, innovation and value-added services.

WTO is placing major emphasis on services as a driver of development. For Nigeria, services already account for over 50% of GDP, yet the country contributes minimally to global services exports. What reforms is Nigeria pushing in Geneva to become a serious player?

Nigeria has emphatically asserted that it will be an important player in the global services market. Recently, we launched the National Talent Export Policy, coordinated by FMITI to ensure a robust pipeline of certified and competitive services for the global market.

Services trade is a core feature of all our trade agreements—at bilateral, regional, and global levels. FMITI, in coordination with relevant agencies, works assiduously to ensure that Nigeria’s services can be exported globally without encountering unnecessary barriers.

At the World Trade Organisation, Nigeria is Chair of the Services Group, and actively participates in the Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation. This initiative is focused on enhancing domestic regulation in the services sector.

Nigeria also advocates for greater international recognition and acceptance of professional certificates, licences, and qualifications from Nigeria and other African nations. This recognition is needed for real access to global markets, to ensure credibility of Nigerian professionals and businesses. It is also needed to ensure the country can export high-value services through traditional and digital channels.

Nigeria is AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Champion. What assurances did you bring to Geneva that Nigeria will fully leverage AfCFTA’s services market and global digital opportunities?

I can point to a few important legal instruments that firmly present Nigeria’s commitment.

Firstly, we have submitted our AfCFTA Schedule of Specific Commitments to the ECOWAS Commission, from where it will be transmitted to the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government. This is more than legalese—we have indicated 95 specific services in the 5 AfCFTA priority sectors of Business Services, Communication Services, Financial Services, Transport, and Tourism. This position more than doubles what we have liberalised at WTO level, demonstrating our commitment to intra-African services trade.

Secondly, Nigeria was the first AfCFTA State Party to ratify the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade. This allows Nigerian digital services to be traded under the benefits and protections of the continental agreement.

Thirdly, at the national level, we are laying the requisite regulatory framework with which to implement our AfCFTA digital services commitments. For instance, we have made significant progress on the National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill, which, among other things, aims to modernise government services and the economy. This is in addition to our formulation of an E-Commerce Policy document put together by the National Advisory Committee on Electronic Commerce and Digital Economy (NACEDE).

Importantly, we are currently in the process of ensuring coherence of our national regulatory architecture (under the bill and policy) and our regional commitments under the AfCFTA.

We have also gone further to host an AfCFTA Digital Regulators’ Roundtable with counterparts from five other countries that are priority destinations for Nigerian digital service providers. We now have a working arrangement on market access that benefits Nigerians.

As AfCFTA Digital Trade Champions, we produced—in collaboration with the AfCFTA Secretariat—an Implementation Strategy for scaling digital services across Africa. It covers digital inclusion, enhancement of our digital public infrastructure, access to data, and preserving data for development.

Further, only last week, I published a knowledge piece that indicates Nigeria’s commitment to intra-African trade in digital services.

Give us an update on the $50 million Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund for 146 Nigerian women, discussed during the WTO DG’s visit to Abuja

Nigeria was delighted to be named as one of the only four pilot countries (and the only one in Africa)—alongside the Dominican Republic, Jordan and Mongolia—selected to roll out the WEIDE programme.

From an extraordinary pool of 68,000 strong applicants from Nigeria, 146 exceptional women-led businesses were selected on WEIDE’s Discovery and Booster platforms. Implementation of the programme is being led by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and is ongoing. So far, the focus has been on strengthening digital literacy and e-commerce capacity among the beneficiaries.

Current status

i. Consultants have been engaged to train the beneficiaries and enhance their capacity to scale their operations.

ii. Sector-specific technical capacity building is underway. The most recent of these sessions held in the first week of November 2025.

iii. The beneficiaries are done with their documentation and have been divided into sector groups.

iv. There have been regular meetings between NEPC and WEIDE Secretariat.

v. NEPC is currently putting together a conference with the beneficiaries to take stock and determine ways to better support them.

Note: Disbursement has not yet taken place. According to NEPC, the process is presently focused on training the beneficiaries.

How will Nigeria translate insights from the Trade in Services for Development Initiative into concrete policies that strengthen competitiveness and deepen integration into global value chains?

Nigeria views its participation in the Initiative as a critical platform—both to articulate the priorities of developing and African countries and to advance its own national agenda. The country already has a sophisticated services sector, contributing about 58% of GDP and over 45% of formal employment, with strong global recognition in financial services, the creative economy, professional services, and technology-driven services.

The Initiative will complement ongoing national efforts, particularly the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), relaunched in 2023. Through NATEP, the government is engaging professional associations, business groups, regulators, and educational institutions to develop a globally competitive services workforce.

Nigeria is aligning its policies across multiple levels: multilateral (WTO), regional (AfCFTA), sub-regional (ECOWAS), and domestic (national competitiveness measures).

The recently launched Nigeria Talent Accelerator, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, is co-chaired by FMITI, the Ministry of Education, and private-sector partners. NATEP serves as the anchor programme, bringing together public and private sectors, academia, and civil society to prepare Nigerian talent for global export.

Under the Renewed Hope Agenda—particularly Item 7 on accelerating non-oil exports—the ministry works with a range of government partners, including the Creative and Tourism Ministry, Digital Economy Ministry, and the Science and Technology Ministry. Nigeria recently secured FEC approval for three major reforms: a new IP policy, enhanced NATEP coordination, and ratification of the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade.

Beyond Africa, Nigeria is including services trade in bilateral negotiations to open global markets for Nigerian service providers. This is supported by targeted regulatory engagements with priority expansion markets such as Egypt, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana.

Which service sectors are being prioritised for rapid export growth, and what support mechanisms are in place?

Nigeria is prioritising all service sectors with strong export potential, particularly those where young people have demonstrated global competitiveness. Digitally enabled services are a core focus because they offer a level playing field globally.

Priority sectors include:

* Digital services and technology-enabled services

* Creative industries

* Professional services (accounting, digital marketing, customer support, etc.)

* Finance and fintech

* Logistics and allied services

Support mechanisms include:

* The new National IP Policy

* NATEP and the WEF Talent Accelerator Network

* A regulatory roundtable with priority expansion countries

* Targeted support for creative exports—especially during high-activity seasons such as “Detty December”

In addition, Nigeria is updating its regulatory frameworks to enable access to AfCFTA opportunities and global digital markets.

What regulatory reforms is Nigeria implementing to remove bottlenecks and enhance the global competitiveness of Nigerian service providers?

Nigeria recognises that broadband limitations, energy challenges, and digital infrastructure gaps pose constraints—but also represent major investment opportunities. FMITI is treating these areas as priority sectors for attracting both foreign and domestic investment. Investor playbooks, including one dedicated to digital infrastructure, will be released in January.

To improve nationwide digital access, the ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy; the Creative Economy Ministry; the Science and Technology Ministry; and other federal agencies.

Key federal initiatives include:

* Strengthening e-commerce platforms, mobile payment systems, and digital marketing tools

* Advancing digital public infrastructure—identity systems, payments, National Single Window

* Ensuring inclusion of women, youth, MSMEs, and underserved groups

* Implementing a robust AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol plan for Nigeria and the continent

The overarching goal is to remove regulatory and operational barriers that limit participation in digital trade and to ensure that the benefits reach every region of the country.

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