Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria, has told the international community that the state is actively breaking trade barriers through bold initiatives designed to attract investment and deepen trade.
Abiodun stated this while participating in a high-level panel session titled “Investment Showcase: Unveiling Opportunities from Select African & Caribbean Sub-Sovereigns” at the ongoing IATF25 in Algiers, Algeria.
Reaffirming Ogun State’s position as Nigeria’s leading investment destination, the Governor highlighted the pivotal role of subnationals in driving the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He noted that despite Africa’s enormous potential, intra-continental trade still accounts for only about 15 percent of total trade, largely due to weak infrastructure, cumbersome regulations, and fragmented value chains.
According to him, Ogun State’s blueprint for economic transformation includes multi-modal infrastructure development: the Gateway International Cargo Airport, Ijebu-Ode and Kajola Dry Ports, over 1,200 kilometres of upgraded roads, and expanded gas reticulation networks.
The blueprint, he said, also includes economic development clusters and free trade zones, including the Remo Economic Development Cluster, anchored by the newly licensed Gateway International Airport; the Ijebu Economic Development Cluster with proximity to the Dangote Refinery and Agro-Allied Industries; the Agbara Industrial Cluster; the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone; and several other hubs designed to support co-location, shared utilities, and value-chain optimisation.
In addition, Ogun State, Abiodun said, has simplified processes for investors through the One-Stop Investment Center (OgunInvest) and a GIS-enabled Land Bank covering 300,000 hectares of pre-verified land, enabling faster permits, titles, and approvals.
The governor also listed the chief attractions to Ogun State to include policy certainty, with frameworks under the 2019 PPP Law, risk-sharing partnerships with AfDB and IFAD, and structured government-industry dialogue as well as Ogun State’s strategic location, with seamless access to Lagos ports, ECOWAS markets, and the Benin Republic border for regional distribution.
He stated that with these interventions, Ogun State is positioning itself as Nigeria’s foremost AfCFTA hub—where scale, speed, and certainty converge to unlock shared prosperity for Africa.
