Herbert Wigwe sparks up debate on benefits of ACFTA for Nigerian businesses...

Herbert Wigwe sparks up debate on benefits of ACFTA for Nigerian businesses...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement, with its accompanying removal of tariffs of about 90%, could be the most important opportunity offered to African countries for a long time. - Herbert Wigwe (CEO, Access Bank).

Mr. Herbert Wigwe's contribution has sparked up a debate with the possibility of awakening Nigerian businesses to the enormous potentials of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement. Against this backdrop, I will attempt to briefly address the implications of this economic model with direct reference to the Nigerian marketing communications space; particularly practitioners within that play area looking to scale regionally.

I will share excerpts, drawing insights from Mr. Wigwe's presentation yesterday at the VANTAGE FORUM :

The imminent change of economic seasons upon us as a continent that will see Africa rise to become the world's alternative factory (relative diversion from China) and integrated regional power will yield 'bi-directional' results.

With the benefits of economies of scale and the demerits of over-capacity in the long term and everything else in-between, the practice of marketing communications (in Nigeria) as we know it today, must brace up to both accommodate and ride on these developments if we are to remain relevant value contributors and enablers for sustainable regional co-operation and growth.

In this piece, I underscore 7 areas "marcomm" practitioners must address to re-position service offerings to harness the opportunities provided by the ACTFA agreement. Here's a high level overview:

  • Understanding regional consumer preferences
  • Uncovering market architecture(s) and operational dynamics in the region
  • Identifying opportunity clusters and market frictions
  • Re-defining relative competitive advantage with the advent of ACFTA
  • Identifying regional integration drivers for leverage
  • Integrating competitive intelligence measures for sustainability and growth
  • Determining price sensitivity allowances within the region

This list is by no means exhaustive. All hands must be on deck to position Nigeria's marketing communications space to harness the full potentials of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement with the necessary support of government by way of legislation, policy formulation and creation of enabling structures and processes for regional penetration, competitiveness and sustainability.

#VantageForum #acfta #nigerianbusiness #Marketing #communications

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Chinwe Iloghalu

Ag. MD/CEO Nova Bank. Ex-Board Member, Financial Institution Training Centre (FITC)

5 年

It's clear that a few Nigerian Banks had the visionary insight to increase their footprints across the African continent especially in the sub-saharan region. These 46 countries in this region are projected to have the highest populations in the world over the next few decades. It would be interesting to have some information on the balance of trade (BOT) that exists in these countries as they would form the key performance indices for the economic development being touted by the ACFTA. Thank you for sharing Tolu.

Eno Kennedy

MBA LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, | CIM MCIM | CMO TO WATCH 2024 | TECH ENTREPRENEUR | GLOBAL MARKETING & GROWTH LEADER | BRIDGING THE FREELANCE GAP ACROSS AFRICA, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND EUROPE | SUSTAINABILITY ADVOCATE

5 年

Spot on. One must begin to understand or approach the communication or marketing strategies of its brand from a bigger perspective as the target market and scope have expanded

Oyedotun Folajin

Operations Manager at Chain Reactions Nigeria

5 年

It's time to maximize benefits provided by ACFTA agreement and reposition for competitive advantage. Great job Tolu!

Tara Fagbuyi (MCIPR)

PhD Researcher | Global Health Equity - Policy and Systems

5 年

Valid points made Tolu S. Koyejo. At the centre of it all is understanding the consumer, the market and how best to offer value from a regional perspective.

Anthonia Medinus ACA

Investment Banking Associate at Bank of America | MBA at Kenan-Flagler Business School | Class of 2024 | Ex KPMG

5 年

Interesting read Tolu S. Koyejo

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