University Establishes Trade Centre to Advance Business and Economic Development

The Professor Ngozi Egbuna International Centre for Regional Integration and Trade Research (ICRITR) has been commissioned at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka. The Afreximbank-funded facility is designed to bolster research, policy formulation and capacity building in support of Africa’s economic integration and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The Centre was inaugurated by the University’s Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Barrister Olugbenga Kukoyi, who described the project as a landmark achievement and congratulated the Centre’s Director, Professor Ngozi Egbuna, for her vision, dedication and perseverance.

He expressed confidence the Centre would be a leading platform for research, innovation and regional collaboration, helping to spur Africa’s economic transformation.

Addressing the ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bond Stanley Anyaehie, described the commissioning as a significant milestone in the university’s commitment to academic excellence, impactful research and regional cooperation.

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He said the Centre would make UNIZIK to be a premier institution in trade policy, regional integration, industrial development and digital trade research as well as a platform for collaboration among academia, governments, policymakers and the private sector.

Professor Anyaehie thanked Afreximbank for providing the financing for the project and also acknowledged the contributions of the former Vice-Chancellors Professors Charles Esimone, Joseph Ikechebelu and Carol Arinze-Umobi whose administrations sustained the initiative.

He also praised Professor Egbuna, the Building Project Committee, the University’s Physical Planning and Works Department and the contractors for the successful delivery of the facility.

In her welcome address, Professor Egbuna described the commissioning as the realisation of a long-held vision to create a world-class centre that will advance scholarship, shape public policy and promote regional integration through research and innovation.

Since its establishment in 2023, the Centre has grown rapidly, she said, by developing postgraduate and executive education programmes, expanding research on AfCFTA, digital trade, trade finance and regional integration, and building strategic alliances with national and international institutions.

She said the Centre’s next phase will be focused on becoming Africa’s leading think-tank on AfCFTA implementation by strengthening research, expanding postgraduate education and executive training, deepening partnerships with governments and international organisations, and producing the next generation of African trade negotiators, policymakers and business leaders.

Delivering Afreximbank’s goodwill message, the bank’s Manager for Client Relations, Anglophone West Africa, Mrs. Obioma Iweka described the Centre as a critical investment in knowledge creation, policy dialogue and human capital development.

Afreximbank’s commitment to supporting intra-African trade through stronger partnerships with the university, including collaborative research, capacity-building programmes, internships, faculty exchanges and an annual Afreximbank-sponsored lecture series, was reaffirmed by her.

The facility is made up of modern lecture halls, research offices, conference facilities and collaborative workspaces designed to support multidisciplinary research, executive training and international policy dialogue.

It is expected to serve as a continental hub for research and capacity building, promoting regional integration, trade competitiveness and sustainable economic development across Africa.