Trade · Nigeria
Set up an enterprise in a Free Trade Zone (NEPZA)
Obtain a Free Zone Enterprise Operating Licence (OPL) to manufacture, warehouse or trade inside a licensed Nigerian free zone: apply through zone management with a project plan → approval within ~5 working days → OPL. The licence substitutes for CAC registration, and zone enterprises are exempt from federal/state/local taxes and levies.
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Who you will deal with
The steps
- Choose a zone and obtain the application form
- Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) / zone management
- Select a licensed free zone (Lagos Free Zone, Lekki, Calabar, Onne Oil & Gas, etc.). Collect the enterprise application form from the zone administration or NEPZA HQ Abuja against a non-refundable fee of US$500 (or naira equivalent).
- Application form; US$500 non-refundable fee
- Immediate
- Submit the project plan / feasibility study
- Zone management / NEPZA
- Submit the completed form with a project plan or feasibility study covering the activity, investment size, employment and space requirement. Enterprise registration plus certified true copies of documents is priced at US$3,000.
- Project plan/feasibility study; enterprise registration US$3,000
- Submission
- Approval and Operating Licence (OPL)
- Zone management / NEPZA
- Applications are reviewed and either approved or returned with observations within 5 working days. On approval the Free Zone Administration issues the Operating Licence. The licence constitutes registration - no separate CAC incorporation is required.
- Operating Licence (OPL)
- ~5 working days
- Lease space, build out, and operate
- Zone management
- Execute the lease. Own-build investors submit 4 copies of full architectural drawings for zone approval under the building code; built-up space must not exceed 70% of the leased land and construction must start within 3 months of the agreement. Zone enterprises are exempt from federal, state and local taxes and levies.
- Lease; architectural drawings (4 copies)
- Build-out within 3 months
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The numbers behind the decision
Knowing the process is half of it. ONYX also tracks the operating environment you are entering — daily grid generation, official FX, state-level input prices and inflation, and sector output — each figure source-linked and dated.