EXAMINATION OF THE AFCFTA AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria. Despite Nigeria’s ratification of the AfCFTA Agreement in 2020, constitutional, statutory, and treaty-based constraints hinder its full implementation, creating legal uncertainties for investors. The research employs doctrinal, comparative, and empirical methodologies, analyzing Nigeria’s domestic laws (CFRN, 1999 (as amended), the NIPC Act (2004), and the AfCFTA Ratification Act (2020)), regional frameworks (for example, ECOWAS Revised Treaty), and international treaties (for example, Nigeria-China BIT, WTO agreements). Key findings reveal; Section 12 of the CFRN, 1999 (as amended), mandates domestication of treaties, yet Nigeria lacks an AfCFTA Implementation Act, leaving investor protections unenforceable in domestic courts, Nigeria’s NIPC Act and CAMA 2020 conflict with AfCFTA’s liberalization obligations, particularly in expropriation compensation and dispute resolution mechanisms, Judicial delays, federal-state jurisdictional tensions, and weak customs infrastructure impede compliance with AfCFTA’s trade facilitation goals, and overlaps between Nigeria’s BITs and AfCFTA’s emerging investment protocols risk forum-shopping and inconsistent arbitration outcomes. The study recommends enacting an AfCFTA Implementation Act to domesticate treaty obligations, harmonizing the NIPC Act with AfCFTA’s investment protections and dispute settlement standards, strengthening judicial efficiency and customs modernization to align with AfCFTA’s requirements, and adopting sustainable FDI policies inspired by global models (including Ghana’s arbitration frameworks, South Africa’s BIT reforms). The study avers that without urgent reforms, Nigeria risks reduced FDI inflows, non-compliance penalties, and diminished leadership in Africa’s economic integration under AfCFTA