The Federal Government has urged Nigerian businesses to take greater advantage of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, saying the country's participation remains below its potential despite registering about 3,500 companies and 20,000 products.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, disclosed this on Monday at a sensitisation workshop on the scheme in Lokoja, Kogi State.
He said Nigeria needed to improve its performance under the initiative compared with some other member states of the Economic Community of West African States.
The scheme grants qualifying products originating from member countries preferential access to markets across the region, offering Nigerian businesses opportunities to expand exports.
Enikanolaiye urged manufacturers, farmers and entrepreneurs to understand the registration process, rules of origin, certification and other requirements for accessing the regional market.
He identified agricultural products such as livestock, mangoes, millet, maize, sugar, groundnuts and cashew as resources that Kogi and other North-Central states could process into competitive export products.
The minister said increased trade among African countries would strengthen economic cooperation and contribute to peace and security across the continent.
Kogi State Governor Ahmed Ododo said his administration was positioning the state as a regional centre for trade, industrial production and agricultural processing.
Represented by his deputy, Joel Salifu Oyibo, the governor cited Kogi's location at the confluence of the Rivers Niger and Benue, its agricultural resources, mineral deposits and road networks as advantages for attracting investment and facilitating regional trade.
He said the state's proposed Ajaokuta Free Trade Zone, Agro-Processing Zone and Kogi International Airport were among initiatives designed to expand production and connect local businesses to international markets.
Ododo urged farmers, manufacturers, miners and entrepreneurs to look beyond the domestic market and prepare their products for buyers in West African cities, including Accra, Abidjan, Lomé and Cotonou.
The Secretary to the State Government, Folashade Ayoade Arike, also called for Federal Government support to complete infrastructure projects that would improve the state's commercial capacity.
She identified the proposed international airport and the ongoing Lokoja International Market project as important to the movement of goods and access to wider markets.
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