The return of the fair is intended to reignite Lagos’s long-standing role as a regional marketplace and a gateway for cross-border commerce into West Africa.
Speaking exclusively to Business Insider Africa, Barr. Vera Safiya Ndanusa, Executive Director of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex Management Board (LITFCMB), described the revival as a major win for Nigeria’s business landscape.
“The trade fair is a melting pot for business ideas. It is a melting point for innovation, and we are providing the markets for businesses,” she said.
“Entrepreneurs can come here for little to nothing, get spaces and organize their exhibitions, and then we have people who have come to sell their goods from all over.”
What the fair offers, she added, goes beyond commerce; it democratizes access to business development:
“There’s an opportunity for our small businesses to meet up with industry giants to get one or two ideas to improve their own products.”
Lagos remains West Africa’s commercial nerve centre
One of the key objectives of the revived fair is to restate Lagos’s position as West Africa’s leading commercial hub.
When asked whether there has ever been a time when Lagos was not recognized as West Africa’s trade powerhouse, the executive director clarified:
“It’s always been the case.”
“Lagos is the commercial nerve center of West Africa; it’s always been the case, and it’s even started way back, since the existence of this place, when the complex was fulfilling its purpose, so now the complex is back.”
But more importantly, she explained, the location of the complex itself amplifies this identity.
“Lagos is actually the commercial hub of West Africa. However, what we mean to say is that the complex is strategically located.
It’s located along the West Africa corridor. You can see it’s close to the border, so you have easy access, and don’t forget that there’s a road coming up all the way that goes through ECOWAS.”
She highlighted growing ease of movement across the subregion:
“My friend was telling me that as she went to the ECOWAS Women Entrepreneurs program, she noticed that all the checkpoints, all the bottlenecks at the border from Nigeria or through the ECOWAS border have been drastically reduced.”
With customs and immigration authorities cooperating more seamlessly, she said the complex is primed to receive trade inflows from across the continent:
“So it means you can come in here easily, you know, this is the gateway in and out of Lagos. Also, Customs are sensitized. Customs assist people. Immigration, the same thing.”
Ndanusa emphasized that the massive facility, once abandoned, could not be allowed to waste:
“We cannot lose such a gigantic edifice that the federal government has put in place; we cannot allow it to go down the drain because it is for the people of Nigeria to benefit by the people of Nigeria.
So these are part of the legacy the federal government is giving to the people.”
Today, the complex is home to some of the region’s biggest commercial clusters:
“We have the largest tire market in Africa is in this complex. We have the largest jewelry market in West Africa.”
‘We can sleep with our doors open’: Security takes centre stage
Nigeria’s insecurity crisis has remained one of the biggest threats to commerce, a reality acknowledged during the fair’s opening ceremony.
Former governor of Niger State, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, used his remarks to stress how the revival of the trade fair symbolizes hope despite national security struggles.
“We need to dream big and think big to the point where we can sleep with our doors open,” he said.
“It is not by giving lands but by creating opportunities.”
His comments were echoed by Eric Ilechukwu, Chairperson of the Association of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex.
He noted the broader insecurity but also touched on governance issues that risk slowing economic progress.
“We recognize that this is federal government territory, so we are asking the federal government and the Lagos state government to work together… We are asking the government to collaborate and leave us alone,” he said.
“When two elephants are fighting, it is the grass that suffers it.”
Despite national concerns, Ndanusa made it clear that the complex itself is exceptionally secure.
“We also have the DSS. Different formations of the DSS are here all to make sure that everything is, and I’m not just telling you one off, they are here with us permanently to make sure that they are residents,” she explained.
The security presence is constant, she emphasized:
“Like I said, this complex is an international complex, so people are coming in from all over, so their presence makes sure that lives and properties are safe,” she said.
“I am sure you have not heard that there’s theft here or something or robbery because we have all this security on the ground. So when you come here, you are sure that everything is safe, except if God says otherwise.”
The reopening of the Nigeria International Trade Fair after 14 years is more than a revival.
It is the repositioning of Lagos as West Africa’s marketplace, a safe and strategically located corridor for continental trade, and a renewed platform for entrepreneurs to grow, innovate, and expand.
