By Nkiruka Nnorom
THE United States government has indicted Nigeria’s trade environment as one of the most corrupt and frustrating in the world, citing endemic corruption, inter-agency infighting, extortion at the ports and an opaque regulatory system as major barriers to foreign trade and investments in Nigeria.
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This is contained in the US 2026 National Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers of the President of the United States on the trade agreement programme, where Washington gave a damning assessment of doing business in Nigeria.
According to the report, while US goods exports to Nigeria surged to $6.8 billion in 2025, creating a $1.8 billion trade surplus in favour of America, US firms continue to face substantial barriers that threaten to undermine competitiveness and, in some cases, completely block American goods from entering the Nigerian market.
The report noted that foreign exchange controls remained a major barrier, while strict controls over repatriation of funds still persisted with approvals delayed or denied.
It also stated that piracy, though down from mid-2010 peak, was creeping up with 15 incidents reported in reported in the first nine months of 2025, up from 12 in the same period in 2024.
It, however, credited the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for collapsing multiple exchange rates in June 2023 and lifting the eight year ban on dollar access for 43 items including rice, poultry and steel in October 2023, while also commending the Tinubu’s administration for the maritime reforms.
Corruption official
Washington took a swipe on official corruption and regulatory protocols, saying: “Corruption remains a substantial barrier to trade and investment in Nigeria. Corruption and lack of transparency in tender processes are of great concern to U.S companies. U.S firms experience difficulties in day-to-day operations as a result of inappropriate demands from officials for ‘facilitative’ payments.”
The report added that efforts to strengthen anti-corruption measures “have been hampered by inter-ministerial infighting and partisan politics,” while questions remain about the Nigerian justice system’s capacity to convict corrupt officials.
On government procurement, Washington said US firms worry about corruption and a lack of transparency, noting that agencies often ignore the Public Procurement Act and the Bureau of Public Procurement’s oversight, while the National Assembly runs its own procurement process “that is not subject to BPP oversight and lacks transparency.”
Transparency in tatters, agencies fight each other
According to the report, transparency of the regulatory system in Nigeria remained a concern. It noted that US companies raised alarms that regulations were issued as final measures without a clear process or period for public comment.
The report further exposed chaos inside government, saying: “Disputes among Nigerian government agencies over the interpretation of regulations often cause delays, and frequent changes in customs guidelines slow the movement of goods.”
The inter-agency rivalry and policy somersaults, it said, have left Apapa Port in Lagos as one of the most expensive ports in the world, with average delays of 30 days to clear a container ship.
It noted that even the much-touted $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Sea Port, commissioned in 2023 to ease pressure, “has yet to attract enough traffic.”
The report also flagged intellectual property theft, counterfeit drugs and auto parts, software piracy and inadequate enforcement due to “corruption” and “porous borders.”
Customs service under fire
The report took aim at the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, saying its practices had continued to present major obstacles to trade.
Importers, the report noted.
He complained bitterly about “inconsistent application of customs regulations and lengthy clearance procedures, often due to outdated manual processing systems, and corruption.
“These factors sometimes contribute to product deterioration and result in significant losses for importers of perishable goods and diversion of imports to informal channels.”
The US report flagged the controversial 4 per cent Free-On-Board, FOB, fee introduced by Customs in February 2025, suspended after public outrage, reintroduced in August 2025 and suspended again in September, alleging that Customs continued to collect it illegally.
Customs, the report added, claimed the fee “was never actually suspended” and cited the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 as backing.
Forex squeeze still choking investors but reforms noted
On foreign exchange, the US report painted a picture of a system still choking business, despite reforms.
According to the report, forex limitations have negatively impacted investment as well as trade, hampered US companies’ ability to import raw materials for their Nigerian operations, and made it difficult for projects with dollar-denominated loans to repay debts because “borrowers have struggled to secure the necessary foreign exchange.”
Importers, it added, sometimes must agree to produce domestically to be allocated import permits and to access dollars through the Nigerian foreign exchange market.
The report however acknowledged positive steps by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, under President Bola Tinubu’s reforms. In June 2023, CBN collapsed multiple official exchange rates into one Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, and in October 2023 reversed its eight-year-old ban on access to dollars for 43 items including rice, meat, poultry, vegetable oil and steel products.
Despite liberalization, the report said, “strict controls over the repatriation of funds” remain, with approvals governed by “strict regulatory protocol” and subject to fluctuating dollar supply, causing delays and denials – a major deterrent to US investors.
Trade surge, single window, Blue Economy Ministry, among named positives
Despite the barrage of negatives, the US report flagged several bright spots that balance the narrative.
On reforms, Washington welcomed Nigeria’s ratification of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement in 2017 and its push to automate Customs, even if many procedures remain manual.
On intellectual property, it noted Nigeria has “taken steps to improve its legal framework,” joining the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants in March 2025, launching a National IP Policy and Strategy in December 2025, and passing the Copyright Act 2022 with anti-piracy penalties.
Most importantly, the report highlighted Nigeria’s National Single Window, NSW, project announced in April 2024, a digital portal to unify all import/export documentation. Once operational in Q1 2026, it was expected to cut cargo clearance from 18-21 days to less than seven days.
It also praised the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in August 2023, moving NIMASA and Nigerian Ports Authority out of Transportation, and its advocacy for cargo tracking technology.
Other positives include zero-rated VAT for Nigerian exporters and VAT exemptions for basic food, healthcare and education.
Vanguard News
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