Edun Urges Intra-African Trade as U.S. Tariffs Hit West, Central Africa

Edun Urges Intra-African Trade as U.S. Tariffs Hit West, Central Africa

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, has called on African nations to deepen intra-African trade in response to the increasing global tariff challenges.

Speaking in Abuja at the 4th World Customs Organisation Donors Conference for the West and Central Africa Region, Edun described the U.S. government’s recent reciprocal tariffs as a wake-up call for the continent to strengthen trade within itself.

“Now, we have the reciprocal tariff regime consequences which are unfolding and being studied by one and all over the world. But, this is a lesson for us that we need to trade among ourselves. We need to be resilient,” Edun said.

He warned that emerging global trade barriers, including the sharp drop in foreign aid from agencies like USAID, were already affecting eight countries in the region—Nigeria, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire among them—by raising export tariffs to the U.S. by an average of 13.83%.

“Such actions not only increase the cost of our exports but also undermine efforts to boost trade competitiveness and diversify our economies,” he added.

Edun highlighted the urgency of fast-tracking the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), strengthening domestic revenue generation and building resilient trade systems.

“It is clear that we can no longer rely exclusively on external support; instead, we must build robust institutions and partnerships that are sustainable, inclusive and regionally anchored,” he said.

He noted that West and Central Africa, with over 450 million people and a GDP of $900 billion, only conduct 12% of trade within the region compared to Europe’s 60% and East Asia’s 40%.

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“Customs processing times across our borders average 12 days, significantly above the global best practice of less than 24 hours. These statistics highlight both our challenges and our enormous untapped potential,” Edun stated.

He emphasized that modernizing customs could generate an estimated $50 billion in intra-regional trade annually and create millions of jobs.

Nigeria Customs Service Comptroller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, also addressed the conference, acknowledging that regional customs administrations face serious hurdles—such as weak digital infrastructure and poor system interconnectivity—but are making progress.

“These interventions,” he said, “have yielded measurable results: reduced clearance times, 90% increase in revenue collection (exceeding targets by 20%) and improved compliance rates.”