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Federal Government on Thursday said it would continue wider consultations with economic stakeholders in the country’s six geo-political zones on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA) to ensure long-term benefits and consolidation of the Nigerian economy.
The government also informed that wider consultations with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and other key players in the organised private sector was already yielding the desired results as concerns being raised by various groups were being adequately addressed.
Briefing newsmen while he played host to representative of the National Association of Small Scale Enterprises, NASME who came to pledge their support to government’s effort towards signing the AFCTA, Chiedu Osakwe, who heads Nigeria Office for Trade Negotiations said the consultations with key economic stakeholders will assist Nigeria harvest the full benefits of becoming a signatory to the AFCTA.
Osakwe said, “The government’s consultations is ensuring that strategic priorities such as safeguarding infant industries, comprising of rice, poultry, sugar and even fertilizer movements are well managed in such a way that the activities benefit Nigerian industries. In that regard, appropriate safeguards are in place to address concerns in these areas.
Also, he said, “The consultations is assisting us in area of coordinated economic approach in addressing concerns of cost reflective benefit analysis of the AFCTA, more reflective border management and policing, as well as improving trade logistics which is key in delivering goods and services, which is key in growing intra-African Trade.
“Nigeria must be part of the international community, Nigeria must remain a leader in Africa, Nigeria must remain a leader in ECOWAS, but at the same time there are things that we need to do appropriately with regard to complementing our efforts to facilitate ease of doing business.”
According to Osakwe, free trade is not free absolutely but a regulated trade that is infused with appropriate safeguards so that countries could reap the required benefits of being part of the global economic community. This informed the dispute resolution committee in the AFCTA, where issues bordering on abuses will be appropriately addressed.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian government had constituted ministerial committee to ensure economic stakeholders were carried along before the Federal Government signed the AFCTA Pact.
BusinessDay confirmed from some key members of the organised private sector that enforcement of rules of Origin and the market access were some of the key concerns raised during the presidential consultations on AFCTA held last few weeks in Abuja with some economic stakeholders.
Frank Jacobs, president of the MAN, told BusinessDay via telephone that the Federal Government had constituted a committee that had been engaging them as they had already made their submissions known to them.
Jacobs pointed out specifically that the Organised Private Sector has raised the concern regarding, “Enforcement of the rules of Origin and Market Access” in the agreement, which they have made submissions to the Federal Government.
“We hope that the committee that would harmonise the reports would reflect our submissions accordingly.”
Buttressing Jacob’s point, Tony Ejinkonye, vice president of National Association of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACIMA), told BusinessDay that,” In market access for instance, stakeholders have made their submissions to the government stating that products from African countries gaining market access must adhere to specify percentage according to the CFTA.”
He said, “In the case of Cement for instance, that must be certain percentage of the local content specifying that the local content and other materials making up the Cement are produced in Africa, otherwise there would be sanctions.”
