The Federal Executive Council (FEC), Nigeria’s cabinet of ministers, on November 6, approved three policies that together form a cohesive economic strategy designed to build a multi-billion-dollar export model. The plan is to create a new economic engine projected to inject $10 billion annually into Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030 and create one million high-paying jobs, according to the FEC.
The initiatives, presented by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, include the National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy (NIPPS), the ratification of the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade, and the establishment of a national coordination mechanism for services exports, to be led by the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP). Each policy tackles a different layer of that ambition to protect the products and services originally created by Nigerians, open the channels and markets through which those ideas could be exported, and aid in training and scaling the workforce that produces them.
Secure the idea
The new National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy (NIPPS), a unified framework to secure, commercialise, and enforce intellectual property rights, is the first of its kind. Creators, tech founders, researchers, and designers have always been productive, but their original ideas don’t often yield economic returns due to unclear IP ownership and weak enforcement of IP laws. Without strong IP frameworks, ideas are a currency you can’t take to the bank.
NIPPS establishes a coordinated IP system that links copyright, patents, trademarks, and creative works under one strategic framework, streamlining the registration process. The process of developing this initiative began in 2020, led by the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, according to the FEC. Its core aim is to establish a coherent ecosystem that connects innovators, creators, researchers, and financial institutions and turns intellectual assets into tradable and bankable capital.
Open the marketplace
With ideas secured, the next step is building a marketplace. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area that establishes protocols on trade in goods, services, investment, and competition policy. AfCFTA aims at accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market. The AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade is a framework tasked with defining the desired digital environment for digital trade within Africa.
Ratifying this protocol enables Nigeria to influence the rules governing cross-border data flows, taxation, and digital services trade. The move is designed to lower the barrier for Nigerian fintechs, creative-tech companies, or startups across all sectors to operate seamlessly across all African countries and ensure Nigeria leads the efforts in the continent’s digital transformation.
Create an army of talent to export
The final piece of the strategy is the National Coordination Mechanism for Services Exports, led by the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP) under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. Services already contribute more than half of Nigeria’s GDP, yet, along with other non-oil exports, they represent less than 10% of the country’s export income. Recognising this, the initiative takes direct aim at building, funding, and formalising Nigeria’s growing services workforce.
This initiative aims to completely re-engineer Nigeria’s workforce by training 10 million Nigerians specifically for the global services market to create a certified, world-class talent pool ready for export. This trained workforce becomes the new product with an economic target to generate $10 billion in sustainable revenue annually. The framework is also designed to attract over $15 billion in new investments into the digital and creative industries as capital, which will be used to build the tech hubs and creative studios that will employ this new generation of talent.
This structure positions Nigeria as a global outsourcing destination and Africa’s hub for service exports that is anchored on talent and technology.
These three approvals are an integrated architecture that forms the government’s official blueprint for a new economic model. It is a clear bet that the future of Nigeria’s wealth lies beyond the export of oil, in the skill and creativity of its people.
