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Nigeria has for now lost the opportunity to be a part of an Africa wide free trade area which offers a $3.4 trillion opportunity for the nations goods and services as President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday cancelled his trip to Kigali for the signing of the Continental Free Trade Agreement, CFTA earlier scheduled for the 21st of March.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry explained on Sunday in a statement that the President needs to make wider consultations before committing Nigeria’s signatory to an agreement that has the capacity to consolidate Nigeria’ position as the largest economy in the continent.
Nigeria most analysts said would be biggest beneficiary from the CFTA pact, given its position as Africa’s largest economy with more presence in intra-African trade, which has overall Gross Domestic Product, GDP size of $3.4 trillion.
Tiwatope Elias-Fatile, the ministry spokesperson confirmed this development in a statement on Sunday.
The statement said, “President Muhammadu Buhari cancels trip to Kigali, Rwanda, for the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) scheduled for March 21, 2018.
It would be recalled that the Federal Executive Council had, at its meeting on Wednesday March 14, 2018, approved for President, Muhammadu Buhari to sign the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Treaty to be launched on March 21, 2018 at the Extraordinary Summit of the African Union in Kigali, Rwanda.
“However, President will no longer be travelling to Kigali for the event because certain key stakeholders in Nigeria indicated that they had not been consulted, for which reason they had some concerns on the provisions of the treaty.
”Consequently, President’s decision is to allow time for broader consultations on the issue.”
The Continental Free Trade Agreement, industry experts say is expected to open up a border-less African market and create a single continental market, with free movement of business persons and investment, and also pave the way for accelerating the establishment of the continental Customs Union and African Customs Union.
The CFTA will also expand intra-African trade through better harmonisation and coordination of trade liberalisation and facilitation.
The CFTA will bring together fifty-four African countries with a combined population of more than one billion people.
Industry experts say that the CFTA is also expected to enhance competitiveness at the industry and enterprise level through exploitation of opportunities for scale production, continental market access and better re allocation of resources.
The establishment of the CFTA and the implementation of the Action Plan on Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT) provide a comprehensive framework to pursue a developmental regionalism strategy, industry
analysts pointed out further.
Opeyemi Agbaje, the Chief Executive Officer of RTC Advisory Services Ltd, told BusinessDay earlier that :
”It is a big economic imperative and will expand intra-African trade beyond traditional trade partners of Europe, Asia and America. It is a
positive development for us and this is a time for the real work of ensuring deepening of intra-African trade. There is a significance
need to increase trade.”
Agbaje also pointed out that the CFTA would see to increased dynamic, informal and flexible intra-Africa trade, which would empower majority of African business and traders who are still largely
informal.
Speaking on the immediate benefits, Agbaje said, “Nigeria and other African countries will see to greater increase in integration of financial sectors activities, wherein Banks in Libya, Cameroon,
Morroco will see more expansion and integration in various countries.”
”Also, there will be increase in transportation infrastructure, and inter-connecting African countries by rail and road infrastructure to
deepen intra-African Trade and other forms of trade facilitation.”
”Moreso, Visa on the point of entry will be facilitated and Continental protocols and immigration issues would be facilitated on
the heels of this development. It is a harvest of benefits,” Agbaje pointed out further.
As contained in a recently released 2017 Nigerian Annual Trade Policy Report, (NATPOR), trade activities both import and export employed
over 14 percent of the Nigerian workforce, equivalent of 10.8 million
people.
The report also remarked that third quarter of 2017 showed Trade accounted for 18 percent of GDP, second to agriculture – which accounted for 29.1 percent of GDP.
The CFTA is also expected expand intra African trade through better harmonization and coordination of trade liberalization and
facilitation regimes and instruments across Africa in general.
It would be recalled that the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012, adopted a decision to establish a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by an indicative date of 2017.
The Summit also endorsed the Action Plan on Boosting Intra-Africa Trade (BIAT) which identifies seven clusters: trade policy, trade
facilitation, and productive capacity, trade related infrastructure, trade finance, trade information, and factor market integration.
LAIDE AKINBOADE-ORIERE & HARRISON EDEH, ABUJA
