The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Pius Akutah has raised concerns over Nigeria’s weak transport and maritime connectivity, warning that inadequate logistics infrastructure could undermine the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area and limit the country’s blue economy potential.

Akutah made this known during a blue economy investment summit, noting that despite Nigeria’s strategic position in West Africa and its role in regional maritime trade, the absence of efficient logistics systems, modern port operations, and seamless transport networks remains a major constraint to intra-African trade.

According to him, for Africa to fully realise the benefits of the AfCFTA, member states must prioritise the efficient movement of goods across borders through improved maritime logistics and stronger transport linkages.

He warned that one of the biggest threats to the success of the continental trade agreement lies in poor connectivity, stressing that many goods traded between African countries still transit through Europe or Asia due to the lack of direct shipping routes and integrated infrastructure within the continent.

Akutah described this trend as a major setback to the vision of boosting trade among African nations, adding that without deliberate efforts to strengthen logistics systems, the objectives of AfCFTA may remain largely unrealised.