Gambia and FTAN Urge African Governments to Rewrite Tourism Policy for Continental Growth
A powerful call has gone out from Lagos for African governments to fundamentally strengthen the policies and institutional structures that underpin tourism growth across the continent. The joint appeal, made by The Gambia's Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Abdoulie Jobe, and the President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Aliyu Badaki, marks one of the most direct policy interventions to emerge from the recently concluded 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market. For the African travel trade, the message could not be clearer: without deliberate reform, the continent risks continuing to underperform relative to its enormous tourism potential.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Minister Jobe used the platform to encourage Africans themselves to travel more extensively across their own continent, discovering the extraordinary diversity of destinations and experiences it offers. He described The Gambia as the "Smiling Coast of Africa", warmly inviting Nigerians to explore its beaches, cultural heritage, wildlife, gastronomy and famed hospitality. Jobe emphasised the deep historical, cultural and people-to-people ties that connect Nigeria and The Gambia, arguing that these long-standing relationships provide a natural foundation for stronger tourism, investment and commercial partnerships.
According to the minister, The Gambia's presence at Akwaaba was designed with clear commercial intent, aimed at showcasing the country's attractions and building fresh partnerships with Nigerian tour operators, airlines, investors, hospitality operators and creative industry players. His central conviction is that Africa must increasingly become its own tourism marketplace, encouraging citizens to travel within the continent, discover diverse cultures and destinations and cultivate durable relationships that generate lasting economic value. He argued that increased intra-African travel would open substantial opportunities for businesses, investors and local communities, while simultaneously strengthening diplomatic and cultural bonds between African countries.
Complementing Jobe's continental appeal, FTAN President Aliyu Badaki delivered a sharper critique aimed squarely at governance. He urged African governments to establish effective, coordinated structures and policies capable of driving genuinely sustainable tourism development. In his assessment, the absence of a well-defined structural framework remains one of the most damaging constraints on the growth of Nigeria's tourism sector, and by extension a limiting factor for many other African economies pursuing similar ambitions.
Badaki was unflinching in his diagnosis. He observed that Nigerian tourism finds itself in its current position precisely because of a lack of proper structure, and warned that repeating the same approaches while expecting different results is not a viable path forward. His call was for stronger government intervention, deeper collaboration between the public and private sectors and a serious reappraisal of the institutional arrangements that shape how tourism is planned, promoted and delivered across the country.
Crucially, Badaki acknowledged that Nigeria, like many other African countries, is endowed with remarkable tourism assets, ranging from cultural heritage and natural attractions to vibrant creative industries and dynamic urban destinations. What is missing, he argued, are the deliberate policies and institutional reforms needed to convert these assets into sustainable economic opportunities. Without such reforms, the sector risks remaining stuck in a cycle of underperformance despite its evident potential. He also commended Akwaaba for sustaining its annual travel market over more than two decades, describing it as a valuable platform for tourism stakeholders across West Africa to network, promote business and drive cultural exchange.
Adding a strong Lagos perspective to the conversation, First Lady Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu described Akwaaba as an important platform for promoting tourism, hospitality, culture and creativity. She observed that tourism itself has expanded well beyond conventional leisure travel to encompass sports, medical, food, entertainment and business tourism, each of which presents distinct opportunities for African destinations willing to invest in the necessary infrastructure and skills. She called for expanded opportunities for young people across culinary arts, hospitality, travel management, event production, entertainment and destination marketing, framing youth engagement as central to the long-term sustainability of the industry.
For African travel professionals, the twin messages from Lagos carry meaningful strategic implications. On one hand, Jobe's continental vision reinforces the growing commercial case for intra-African tourism products, from multi-country West African itineraries to cross-regional cultural circuits. On the other, Badaki's policy critique underlines the reality that private-sector initiative alone cannot substitute for coherent government frameworks, integrated destination marketing and predictable regulatory environments.
As African tourism continues to navigate the shifting dynamics of global travel, the appeals from Lagos serve as an important reminder that the continent's next chapter of tourism growth will be shaped as much by the boldness of its policymakers as by the creativity of its entrepreneurs. Those countries that succeed in aligning vision, structure and execution will be best placed to capture the accelerating opportunity that intra-African travel now represents.
