Delay ‘ll leave Nigeria behind in digital trade, Deputy Speaker warns

…Says Parliament cardinal to Nigeria’s integer commercialized breakthrough

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has warned that immoderate hold successful embracing integer commercialized reforms could spot Nigeria and Africa near down successful the planetary economy.

Speaking to Vanguard Newspapers connected the sidelines of the conscionable concluded World Trade Organization (WTO)–Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Steering Committee league astatine the WTO Public Forum 2025 successful Geneva, Switzerland, Kalu said parliament indispensable pb the mode successful lawmaking, advocacy, and oversight to thrust integer transformation.

The WTO Public Forum is the organization’s largest yearly outreach platform, wherever governments, lawmakers, concern leaders, civilian society, and academics travel unneurotic to sermon planetary commercialized issues.

The IPU, the world’s assemblage of nationalist parliaments, works with the WTO to guarantee that legislators play an progressive relation successful shaping commercialized governance.

Kalu who presently represents Nigeria connected the WTO–IPU Steering Committee, which provides parliamentary input into planetary commercialized debates and ensures lawmakers lend straight to shaping planetary commercialized policy, said: “Just arsenic I emphasized successful my earlier speech, the taxable of our conversation—focused connected the relation of parliament successful integer trade—is not a specified method footnote. It is simply a reality, a defining information of our time. The satellite has already moved successful this direction, and immoderate hold risks leaving america down portion others surge ahead.

“Trade is nary longer what it utilized to be. Relying solely connected accepted trading systems volition not present the economical worth we seek. Globally, the marketplace has gone digital, and the encouraging quality is that Nigeria has already taken a fewer important steps guardant done laws we person passed, arsenic good arsenic those presently earlier parliament. These screen captious areas specified arsenic privateness protection, governance, and the backstage assemblage space.

“The existent issue, however, is not conscionable embracing the integer space—it is astir communicating its worth to those who indispensable usage it. Africa remains an evolving continent, with overmuch of our trading practices inactive rooted successful accepted systems. To the mean cocoa oregon thenar lipid seller, each that matters is receiving outgo into a slope account. Many person not yet realized that integer commercialized tin simplify transactions, grow markets, and summation value.

“Digital innovation is already disrupting tradition, and radical request to clasp these reforms. Parliament’s relation is important here. By making, advocating, and debating caller laws, we tin make consciousness and physique nationalist confidence. When citizens perceive to parliamentary debates—grounded successful probe and focused connected captious issues—they statesman to spot the benefits of entering the integer space.

“If we privation to win successful the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, synergy crossed each countries connected the continent is essential. We request platforms that harmonize activities wrong the integer commercialized abstraction truthful that nary federation is near to run successful isolation. That is wherefore I person projected a legislative toolkit to show however parliaments crossed Africa are addressing this subject. I besides advocator stronger legislative scrutiny to guarantee dependable laws are made, and much importantly, to guarantee their implementation matches the velocity and urgency of contiguous demands.

“This is the spread we indispensable bridge—and it is the relation parliament indispensable play to thrust integer commercialized and Africa’s economical future.”

The station Delay ‘ll permission Nigeria down successful integer trade, Deputy Speaker warns appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.