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LAGOS will host the next edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair in 2027, with CANEX as its precursor in November 2026. What motivated the choice of Lagos?

It was not a unilateral choice. As with most continental initiatives, we work in partnership with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the African Union Commission. Hosting rights are opened to the continent through a competitive bidding process. Nigeria submitted a strong bid through the Ministry of Trade and Investments and won.

Previous editions followed the same process: Egypt first, then Durban. When a country wins the right to host the Intra-African Trade Fair, it hosts the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Weekend the year before as a precursor. This edition carries particular symbolic weight because it also serves as a prelude to the 50th anniversary of FESTAC ’77. The creative programme will take place from 5 to 8 November 2026 in Lagos.

What is CANEX designed to achieve?

Our long-standing mantra has been ‘transforming Africa.’ There is constant discussion about Africa’s youthful population and its abundance of talent. The real task is to monetise and commercialise that talent so creators can build businesses, generate jobs for themselves and others, and contribute to broader development.

CANEX covers seven verticals: music, fashion, film, arts and crafts, sports, literature and gastronomy. Financing is important, but studies and experience show that finance alone is insufficient. Creators also need capacity-building – how to run a business, prepare plans and operate commercially. They need exposure to markets, buyers and investors. Finally, institutional issues, particularly intellectual property, must be addressed.

The programme therefore includes deal rooms covering equity, debt, finance and factoring; masterclasses led by industry practitioners across the verticals; B2B platforms that connect creators with buyers and investors (some of whom Afreximbank sponsors); and a conference of ministers of culture. The ministerial forum will tackle harmonisation of standards (for example in fashion), intellectual property registration and infringement, and ways to make these processes more affordable and accessible across the continent.

We do not wait for the annual event to create market access. In fashion, for instance, we regularly sponsor African designers to show in Paris, New York and Portugal. Some have already secured commercial placements, including retail distribution in the United States. Those designers will also participate in the masterclasses and showcases. Entertainment elements – music performances, theatre and a legends football match – will complement the business programme.

How has the response been so far, and how are concerns about Lagos logistics being addressed?

Response has been strong and continues to grow, particularly in recent weeks. We commend the Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of the Ministers of Trade and Culture, and the Lagos State Government for their active support.

On logistics and traffic, the relevant authorities are working on movement and congestion management. We have successfully staged complex events in Lagos before, including Formula E at the Lagoon, where participants noted the organisation compared favourably with previous places worldwide. Similar attention is being applied to CANEX.

What progress is being made on the broader challenges of intra-African trade, including production constraints, monetary zones and market access?

Intra-African trade remains low, but the creation of the AfCFTA and sustained political will have created momentum. To reduce vulnerability to external shocks – as seen during COVID-19 with medical supplies and during the Ukraine crisis with fertiliser and grains – Africa must trade more with itself. That requires industrialisation and expanded value chains. Selling raw commodities to one another is not enough.

Afreximbank is supporting this through several instruments. Working with Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms, we have five operating industrial parks and a further 13 in the pipeline across the continent, including one in Ogun State and support for a green industrial zone in Kaduna. These parks are designed so companies can plug and play, reducing the impact of infrastructure deficits.

We have also established the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to lower the cost of cross-border payments and enable trade in local currencies while helping formalise informal trade. A new subsidiary, the Africa Trade and Distribution Company, addresses logistics and last-mile delivery challenges and aggregates output from smaller producers.

In addition, Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat created an Adjustment Fund (comprising a base fund, general fund and credit fund) to help countries manage the orderly transition as tariffs are liberalised. These measures form part of a broader effort to deepen intra-African trade and investment.

Can you elaborate on payment facilitation in Africa?

The Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) is one portal that gives access to five digital platforms: the customer due diligence platform Mansa; the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which enables payment for intra-African trade in national currencies; the Tradar Club, a network for international businesses aimed at fostering growth in Africa; the e-commerce platform Africa Trade Exchange; and ATG Connect, which provides freight and logistics connectivity solutions.

Launched in conjunction with the AfCFTA Secretariat, the ATG is designed to support and promote intra-African trade, including the implementation of the AfCFTA. Each of our digital interventions addresses clearly identified challenges and barriers for those seeking to engage in African trade and investment. The gateway is intended to quicken regional integration, extend and create new market access, and accelerate the digital economy in Africa. Customers will be able to complete all their transactions within the one window.

SEVENTEEN years before President Bola Tinubu began the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had pledged N750 billion a year to construct a 700-kilometre Atlantic coastal road and three other Niger Delta projects, former Amnesty Programme Chairman, Honourable Kingsley Kuku, has said.

Kuku said Yar’Adua made the commitment when he proclaimed amnesty for militants on June 25, 2009, naming the coastal highway as one of four cardinal development projects for the region.

Kuku, who was Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on the Niger Delta, spoke on Arise News Prime Time in a right-of-reply segment on behalf of Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, who is in a dispute with a former Cross River State governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Mr Donald Duke, over the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.

According to Kuku, the Technical Committee on the Niger Delta, chaired by Ledum Mitee, recommended the Atlantic coastal highway in 2008, and Yar’Adua accepted it.

He said that in 2009, Yar’Adua told Nigerians his government would complete the reconstruction of the East-West road, build an Atlantic coastal highway from Calabar through Warri and Benin to Igbokoda and Ore in Ondo State and through Epe to Lagos, establish new cities in the nine states of the Niger Delta, and build a Calabar-to-Lagos railway line.

‘These four projects were cardinal in the mind of the former president,’ he said.

‘Unfortunately, death took him, but he even told the world that these four projects I am committed to. I am going to devote through the National Assembly legislation. I will devote nothing less than N750 billion per annum for the implementation of these four projects within a period of five years.’

Kuku said no government took the project up directly until President Bola Tinubu.

‘He has shown political will and he said, I am going to construct Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.’

‘Under President Yar’Adua and Jonathan, it was tagged the Atlantic coastal highway,’ he said. ‘Then, it was a 700-kilometre highway. Now under President Tinubu, it is 750-kilometre highway.’

The Mitee committee’s November 2008 report, which Kuku cited, urged government to ‘construct a coastal road from Calabar to Benin to Igbokoda to Ore to Lagos as recommended by the Ogomudia report.’

It also recommended completing the East-West road dualisation, an East-West rail line from Calabar to Lagos and one new city in each of the nine Niger Delta states.

The amnesty proclamation itself, as published by the Amnesty Office, deals with pardon and the surrender of arms, and does not name the highway.

Kuku traced the idea further back to Nigeria’s first Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh. ‘Taking you back all the way to 1955, the late first finance minister of this country, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, was the first person to suggest the idea of a coastal road,’ he said, adding that Okotie-Eboh pushed it between 1955 and 1957, before he was killed in the January 1966 coup.

He said the road must stay on the coast and not be merged with the East-West road. ‘We do not want the coastal highway to pass through or align with the East-West road, because the purpose was to connect coastal communities, irrespective of cost,’ he said.

He listed communities he wants it to reach, including Epe and Ibeju in Lagos; Atijere, Igbokoda and his hometown, Arogbo, in Ondo; Gbaramatu, Oporoza, Okerenkoko, Escravos and Koko in Delta; Amassoma and Brass in Bayelsa; Opobo and Bonny in Rivers; and Ibeno in Akwa Ibom, before Calabar. These, he said, are riverine communities that host the country’s oil and gas.

Responding to Duke, who said on the Arise News TV Morning Show that the road ‘is just not affordable’ and that Nigeria was ‘literally borrowing’ to fund the Epe stretch, Kuku said cost should not decide whether coastal communities get the road.

‘Why are we talking about expensiveness of connecting these people to humanity, to civilisation? It is unfair. It is an insult to say that it will be expensive,’ he said. ‘If you do not see terrain as a reason not to exploit their resources, the same is the reason why cost must not be an issue.’

A Ministry of Works account of a briefing by the Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, on October 7, indicated President Tinubu had directed that the highway’s continuation by following the existing East-West road in parts of the Niger Delta. The ministry, in October 12, statement, said the East-West road reconstruction was ‘an additional project’ that would not change the original alignment.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has explained why the Sultanate Council is working to establish the Caliphate Islamic Microfinance Bank, saying the initiative is aimed at combating poverty, creating jobs and promoting sustainable livelihoods across Nigeria and the West African sub-region.

The Sultan disclosed this on Sunday in Sokoto at the opening of a three-day training and capacity-building programme for stakeholders on Baitul Mal wat Tamweel (BMT).

NAN reports that the programme was organised by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in collaboration with the Sokoto State Zakat and Endowment Agency.

Represented by the District Head of Kilgore, Alhaji Jabbi Kilgore, the Sultan said the proposed Islamic Microfinance Bank would provide small-scale entrepreneurs with access to Islamic finance to expand their businesses, create employment and improve their livelihoods.

He said the initiative had reached an advanced stage, with investors, including those from outside Nigeria, expressing interest in partnering with the project.

‘The aim is to establish a bank that will serve as a model not only for Nigeria but also for the West African sub-region,’ he said.

The Sultan described the IsDB’s collaboration with the Sokoto State Zakat and Endowment Agency as a significant step towards poverty reduction through effective Zakat collection, sustainable administration and the productive use of charitable resources.

He urged participants and resource persons to ensure that the training translated into practical measures to improve the welfare of vulnerable people and strengthen poverty alleviation efforts.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Sokoto State Zakat and Endowment Agency, Malam Lawal Maidoki, called for a shift from excessive dependence on Zakat and other charitable assistance to productive activities that would enable beneficiaries to become self-reliant.

Maidoki said the BMT model combined social welfare with economic development by providing immediate assistance to vulnerable people while helping them access resources and build capabilities for sustainable livelihoods.

He noted that although Zakat and other charitable contributions provided essential relief to disadvantaged households, such interventions needed to be complemented by opportunities for beneficiaries to establish businesses, generate income, and gradually escape poverty.

‘In many communities, Zakat and other charitable resources provide essential relief, but relief alone may not create a clear, supported pathway from vulnerability to sustainable livelihoods.

‘At the same time, conventional microfinance may be inaccessible or unsuitable for people who cannot meet its conditions or who seek financing consistent with Islamic principles,’ he said.

Maidoki explained that BMT mobilised and distributed social funds, including Zakat, Sadaqah and Waqf, to eligible beneficiaries while supporting productive activities through Shariah-compliant financial services and business development assistance.

He said the approach could strengthen poverty reduction efforts by linking social protection with economic empowerment and creating opportunities for vulnerable households to become financially independent.

Earlier, one of the resource persons, Saat Suharto, an Indonesian social activist and expert in Islamic economics and finance, said the programme was designed to strengthen stakeholders’ capacity to apply BMT principles in an inclusive, accountable and locally appropriate manner.

Suharto said the initiative would support the poorest and most vulnerable people in developing sustainable livelihoods and, over time, becoming financially capable of contributing Zakat themselves.

He added that the programme highlighted the need to strengthen Zakat and Waqf administration, improve staff capacity, simplify procedures and deploy technology to enhance transparency, accountability and operational efficiency.

NIGERIA’S equities market extended its losing streak to a third consecutive week, shedding about N534 billion in market value as sell-offs in major banking stocks weighed on investor sentiment, despite gains in oil and gas shares.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index declined by 0.33 percent week-on-week to close at 247,539.73 points on Friday, October 16, while market capitalisation fell to N160.73 trillion from the previous week’s level.

The decline moderated the market’s year-to-date return to 59.07 percent, while the month-to-date performance stood at a negative 1.5 percent, according to Cowry Asset Management Limited’s weekly financial markets review.

The sustained weakness reflected pressure on heavyweight stocks, particularly Zenith Bank, which lost 6.5 percent during the week. First HoldCo fell by 3.9 percent, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company declined by 5.1 per cent, further weighing on the market.

MTN Nigeria Communications also shed 1.8 percent, adding to the downward pressure from major stocks.

The banking sector recorded the steepest sectoral decline, falling 3.15 percent as investors took profits in major banking counters. Losses in Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company and First HoldCo outweighed gains in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Fidelity Bank.

Insurance stocks also closed lower, with the sector declining 0.14 percent as losses in AIICO Insurance, Coronation Insurance and Mansard Insurance offset gains in some other companies.

However, the broader market showed pockets of resilience, with advancing stocks outnumbering decliners during the week. A total of 49 stocks gained, compared with 29 losers, producing a market breadth ratio of 1.69 times.

Livestock Feeds led the gainers, appreciating by 44.5 percent, followed by E-Tranzact International, which rose 43 percent. Austin Laz and Company gained 32.7 percent, while Omatek Ventures and Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 19.4 percent and 13.1 percent, respectively.

On the losing side, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust recorded the steepest decline, falling 11.9 percent. Enamelware Industries lost 10 per cent, while NASCON Allied Industries, Trans-Nationwide Express and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shed 9.5 percent, 9.1 per cent and 8.4 percent, respectively.

Sectoral performance was mixed, with oil and gas stocks providing the strongest support. The sector advanced 3.13 percent, driven by buying interest in Aradel Holdings and Eterna, which offset losses in Oando.

Consumer goods stocks edged up 0.09 per cent, supported by gains in Multi-Trex Integrated Foods, Guinness Nigeria and International Breweries. However, declines in NASCON Allied Industries, PZ Cussons Nigeria and Dangote Sugar Refinery limited the sector’s advance.

The industrial goods index closed flat as gains in Austin Laz and Company and Cutix were insufficient to lift the sector.

Trading activity weakened considerably during the review period, reflecting reduced participation in the market. Total trading volume declined by 38.91 percent week-on-week, while transaction value fell by 38 percent. The number of deals also dropped by 12.1 percent.

Investors traded 1.66 billion shares valued at N160.73 billion in 184,919 deals during the week.

Looking ahead, Cowry Asset Management expects cautious trading to persist amid selling pressure and subdued market activity. However, bargain-hunting in fundamentally sound stocks and sustained interest in oil and gas and commodity-related equities could provide some support.

Market direction in the coming week is likely to depend on investor sentiment, sectoral performance, corporate earnings and broader macroeconomic developments.