The President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Aliyu Badaki, has called for sweeping structural reforms in Africa’s tourism sector, warning that weak coordination, inadequate policies and the absence of effective institutional frameworks are slowing the industry’s growth.
Badaki made the call in Lagos at the 22nd edition of the Akwaaba African Travel Market, where tourism stakeholders from Nigeria and other African countries gathered to promote travel, investment, cultural exchange and business opportunities within the continent.
He said Nigeria’s tourism industry, despite its vast attractions and economic potential, had continued to underperform largely because of the lack of a properly coordinated structure capable of driving long-term development.
According to him, governments across Africa must move beyond fragmented interventions and create deliberate policies that provide a clear direction for the industry while encouraging stronger partnerships between the public and private sectors.
Badaki said the current leadership of FTAN was driven in part by the Tourism Transformation Agenda, which, he explained, recognised structural reform as a necessary step towards repositioning Nigeria’s tourism industry.
He argued that merely repeating existing approaches would not produce the transformation required to make tourism a significant contributor to economic development.
“What we believe in is that where we are now in tourism in Nigeria is because of lack of proper structure. We cannot continue doing the same thing the same way and expect different results,” he said.
The FTAN president also praised the organisers of Akwaaba for sustaining the travel market for more than two decades, describing the event as an important platform for bringing tourism stakeholders from across West Africa together.
“Just organising an event for a year, you know what it means, but for one person to be doing this back-to-back and to be able to encourage the whole of West Africa to participate under one roof, we really appreciate this,” he said.
Badaki noted that Nigeria and other African countries possessed significant tourism assets capable of attracting visitors and generating employment, investment and foreign exchange if properly developed and marketed.
He said platforms such as Akwaaba had demonstrated the potential of tourism to facilitate intra-African travel, strengthen business relationships and encourage cultural interaction among countries.
As the umbrella body for private-sector tourism businesses in Nigeria, FTAN, he said, would continue to support Akwaaba and other initiatives designed to promote tourism domestically, across West Africa and throughout the African continent.
Gambia seeks stronger Nigeria ties through tourism
Also at the event, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture of The Gambia, Abdoulie Jobe, called for greater intra-African tourism, urging Nigerians to visit his country and experience its beaches, culture, heritage, wildlife, gastronomy and hospitality.
Jobe described The Gambia as the “Smiling Coast of Africa” and said the country shared deep historical, cultural and people-to-people connections with Nigeria.
He maintained that tourism could provide a practical platform for strengthening those relationships while creating new opportunities for businesses, investors and local communities.
According to the minister, The Gambia’s participation in Akwaaba was aimed not only at showcasing its attractions but also at creating partnerships with Nigerian tour operators, airlines, investors, hospitality companies and stakeholders in the creative industry.
He urged African countries to look inward and develop the continent’s tourism market by encouraging citizens to travel to destinations within Africa rather than looking predominantly outside the continent for tourism experiences.
“Africa must increasingly become its own tourism marketplace. We must encourage citizens to travel across Africa, discover our diverse cultures and destinations, and build lasting relationships,” he said.
Jobe said stronger intra-African tourism could stimulate economic activity while giving Africans a better appreciation of the continent’s cultural and natural diversity.
Sanwo-Olu highlights Lagos tourism opportunities
The Lagos State First Lady, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, described Akwaaba as a significant platform for promoting tourism, hospitality, culture and creativity in Nigeria and across Africa.
In her welcome address, she said the annual travel market had succeeded in bringing together a wide range of industry players, including tour operators, marketers, airlines, hotels and other tourism stakeholders.
She added that the event had also provided Nigerians with an opportunity to discover tourism destinations and investment opportunities across Africa.
Sanwo-Olu noted that tourism had expanded beyond traditional leisure travel, with emerging areas such as sports tourism, medical tourism, food tourism, entertainment and business travel increasingly becoming important components of the industry.
She said Lagos, as Nigeria’s commercial and entertainment hub, was well positioned to benefit from the expansion of these emerging tourism segments.
According to her, events such as Akwaaba provided the state with an opportunity to project Lagos as a destination for business, leisure, entertainment and investment.
“Our tourism and hospitality sector remains an important part of our identity, our economy and our global appeal,” she said.
Jollof Rice War adds culinary dimension
Sanwo-Olu also welcomed the introduction of the Jollof Rice War at the event, describing it as a creative celebration of Africa’s culinary heritage and diversity.
She said food should not be viewed merely as a source of nourishment, stressing that cuisine also preserved history, told stories, connected communities and generated economic opportunities.
The Lagos State First Lady assured stakeholders that the state government would continue to support initiatives aimed at strengthening the tourism and creative industries.
She commended the organisers of Akwaaba for sustaining the travel market for more than two decades and urged them to maintain the culture of innovation that had kept the event relevant.
She called for the introduction of new initiatives in subsequent editions to ensure that Akwaaba remained attractive to tourism professionals, investors, travellers and the wider public.
The calls at the event underscored a growing push among African tourism stakeholders for the continent to strengthen its internal tourism market, improve policy coordination and create an environment in which private-sector investment can thrive.
For Nigeria, stakeholders said, achieving that objective would require moving beyond the promotion of individual destinations and events to building durable structures capable of supporting tourism development as a major component of the national economy.