The Federal Executive Council has approved the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), according to Niyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment.
The minister announced this in a tweet on Wednesday.
“The FEC just approved the AFCFTA ratification. #AfCFTA creates a single continental market for goods and services, free movement of business persons and investments, expands intra-African trade & aims to enhance competitiveness for our industries and MSMEs,” Adebayo tweeted.
Nigeria had in 2019 joined 53 other African countries in signing on to a trade agreement that will see it open its economy to free trade on virtually 90 percent of its imports.
With the trade pact, Nigeria alongside other parties to the agreement would be open to an estimated $3 trillion market with trades among 1.2 billion people. The deal also has the potential of creating jobs across member countries and catapulting Africa’s nominal GDP to $6.7 trillion by 2030.
READ ALSO: Oil traders warned of intensified pirate attacks on tankers off Nigerian coast, others
Meanwhile, Nigeria as well as several other African nations have left their borders shut, in what they said was necessary to check the activities of smugglers.
With Nigeria’s border closed, it is still unclear how the ratification to the treaty will work.
The free trade pact was supposed to commence in July this year but was moved to next year due to the global pandemic which disrupted economic activities.
