President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Adetokunbo Kayode, has assured the African Union (AU) that the organised private sector believes that Nigeria would sign the African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
The president also said that the ACCI, the Federal Government and the organised private sector in Nigeria are committed to the promotion of intra-African trade.
Kayode gave this assurance during the visit of AU stakeholders on African Trade policies to the ACCI in Abuja.
“It is a notorious fact that Nigeria has not yet signed the AFCFTA, but I want to assure you that we will sign it,” declared.
“I want to send this message to all our African brothers that Nigeria stands by the free trade agreement and we are ready to work with our colleagues and trade with our brothers and to collaborate and partner with all African companies.”
Further, the ACCI president urged the AU to rethink the issue of funding of Small Scale and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). He said the mechanism and approach on funding must be changed.
“Africa is a continent of SMEs. We must change our approach on funding for SMEs. Our commercial banks will never fund our SMEs, so I want to use this platform to plead to AU to support the rethink for a mechanism for funding,” he noted.
Kayode advised that a mechanism where SME operators will not be given cash directly should be considered, as it would guarantee that funds for the operators would not be diverted.
Responding, the Regional trade Adviser of the AU, Jean Bertand Azapmo, appreciated the ACCI president for assuring the AU that organised private sector stood behind the AfCFTA.
He reassured that when Nigeria joins the AFCFTA, the government and indeed the private sector would stand to benefit a lot from the pact.
According to Azapmo, signing the agreement would open the door for development opportunities and widen the market for private sector.
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Nigeria has 200 million people, which is a sizeable market, but what is the market compared to the AfCFTA market which has 1.2 billion consumers. And by 2030 it will be 1.7billion and the largest market in the world.
“So, in terms of goods and services the Nigerian private sector has a lot to benefit from AFCFTA and by doing so it’ll also contribute to the economic growth of the country,” he noted.
Further, Azapmo assured that the issue of funding for SMEs will be addressed. He said the AU would discuss the issue during the AFCFTA private sector forum, which will take place during the July summit when the AfCFTA would be launched.
“We will make sure that financing SMEs is part of the conversation so that collectively we can find ways and things we can address in the financing issue,” he assured.
