AFRICA Development Studies Centre (ADSC) has urged President Bola Tinubu to make visa access for Nigerians a compulsory component of all bilateral trade, aviation, and cooperation agreements.
The centre warned that many such deals risked remaining ineffective without guaranteed mobility for citizens.
Founder of ADSC, Victor Oluwafemi, in a statement yesterday, noted that Nigeria was entitled to reciprocity in its international engagements, adding that if the country opened its doors through economic and cooperation frameworks, partner nations must equally open theirs to legitimate Nigerian travellers.
The centre spoke just as the Executive Director, Commercial and Institutional Banking (Lagos and South West) at The Alternative Bank, Korede Demola-Adeniyi, stressed that Nigeria must establish stable and predictable policy frameworks to attract private capital and realise its ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
On its part, ADSC noted that making visas part of bilateral deals was needed to translate those agreements into tangible outcomes.
Olufemi observed that agreements Nigerians could not practically access might appear impressive on paper but remained weak in the real economy, where mobility remained critical to turning commitments into measurable results.
He noted that across several partner countries, Nigerians travelling for business, investment, conferences, education, and professional engagements continued to face slow, uncertain, and discretionary visa processes.
He added that such development was making it difficult to convert trade promises into real transactions.
He said: “A trade agreement only works when traders can travel to meet buyers, inspect goods, conclude contracts, and support delivery. An investment partnership only works when investors can deploy teams, undertake due diligence, and execute quickly.
“An airline arrangement only becomes commercially viable when passengers’ access is reliable and predictable. Without visa facilitation, Nigeria risks building corridors that look open but function as closed.”
The centre warned that without visa facilitation, Nigeria risked creating international corridors that appeared open but were closed to its own citizens.
ON the other hand, Demola-Adeniyi called for the rules to unlock $1 trillion economy at the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS) High-Level Policy Engagement held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
She stressed that investor confidence depended largely on the consistency of government policies, warning that frequent policy shifts would discourage long-term capital commitments.
The event, hosted by the Office of the Vice President in partnership with Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations Nigeria, had the theme: “Scaling Action: Driving Inclusive Growth Through Policy and Innovation.”
Demola-Adeniyi said blended finance, where government, development finance institutions (DFIs), banks, and other stakeholders shared risks, could deliver both commercial returns and developmental impact when structures are clear and risks are transparently managed.
She noted that DFI-supported projects often showed stronger repayment performance than conventional lending when execution is actively monitored.
