A two-day conference aimed at repositioning Nigeria for increased global and regional trade engagements under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) opens today Friday.

Tagged Nigeria Investment Conference, the theme of the virtual event is “Nigeria Beyond Oil: Growing Regional and Global Trade Under the #AfCFTA.”

It is being organised by Nazaru LLC, a U.S.-based trade and investment facilitation company, with support from the Nigerian consulate in New York.

Mr Nicholas Ella, the Consul (Trade and Investment) at the consulate, said the conference was an opportunity for participants to discuss strategies for Nigeria’s engagement in the AfCFTA.

Among other objectives, the forum seeks to showcase Nigeria’s abundant trade and investment opportunities in the non-oil sectors ahead of the planned take-off of the AfCFTA in Jan. 2021.

According to the organisers, the conference will serve as a platform for a robust “public-private sector engagement between foreign investors and the Nigerian business community.”

It will also serve as a forum for Nigerian policy makers, trade experts, business executives, Diaspora leaders and innovators to network and forge partnerships.

Speakers include: Mr Kola Awe, Chairman, Export Group of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission.

Others are Mr Anthony Oneya, Special Assistant to the Kano State Governor on Lagos Affairs, and Mr Arnold Jackson, Regional Coordinator, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

Ms Toyin Umesiri, the Chief Organiser and Founder of Nazaru, listed the areas of focus to include transportation and logistics supply chain, AfCFTA, agricultural value chain development, manufacturing and industrialisation.

“We believe the AfCFTA is the single most important trade initiative that will drive trade and investment across Africa over the next decade and beyond,” Umesiri said.

“The conversations we are bringing are not just another event.

“We are igniting a fresh dialogue to educate diaspora, investors and Nigerians on how and where to grow trade under the AfCFTA within Africa’s Africa’s largest economy.

“Transformation and growth begins at the grassroots level, and the state and the local governments are the engine of economic development.

“I am excited to host such leaders advancing trade and investments in Nigerian’s non-oil sector,” she said.