The United States government has identified a major stumbling block to trade and investment in Nigeria.
According to US authorities, corruption remains the key barrier hindering trading and investment activities in the country. In its latest 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, the Office of the United States Trade Representative highlighted corruption and a lack of transparency in tender processes as significant concerns for American businesses.
The report stated: “U.S. firms experience difficulties in day-to-day operations as a result of inappropriate demands from officials for ‘facilitative’ payments. Efforts to strengthen anticorruption measures have been hampered by inter-ministerial infighting and partisan politics. Questions also remain regarding the Nigerian justice system’s capacity to achieve convictions and appropriate sentencing for corruption-related crimes.”
The report also criticised Nigeria for delays in approving import permits for American agricultural products, describing it as a longstanding trade barrier that has restricted access to the Nigerian market.
It noted that Nigeria has failed to act on several pending requests concerning US food and agricultural imports, despite repeated efforts to secure market access since 2019.
“Since 2019, the United States has sought to negotiate import permits for the export of several categories of US food and agricultural products. Nigeria has been slow to approve these requests,” the report stated. “Nigeria is not consistent in the implementation of technical regulations and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which can create confusion and undermine compliance.
“Nigeria maintains a combined duty plus other associated import fees of 50 per cent or more on 79 tariff lines, including 17 tariff lines where the combined duty and fees reach or exceed the 70 per cent limit set by ECOWAS,” it added.
