AfCFTA: $50bn export potential’ll revolutionise continent’s

By Merit Ibe

President Bola Tinubu has said with the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Nigerian traders stand to benefit from its $50 billion export potential, which will revolutionise the continent’s economic landscape.

Tinubu, who made the statement in Lagos during the launch of the first shipment of Nigeria’s export to five African countries under the GTI, said the AfCFTA is not just an agreement but a trade pact that is bound to build Africa’s industrialisation and the prosperity for Africans. Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, the president applauded the trade initiative, which will foster economic ties and will require us to embrace challenges ahead with enthusiasm and readiness to tackle them headlong in the interest of our stakeholders and collective survival.

“Today, we embark on a journey that would ignite the flame of opportunity, foster economic ties and pave the way for progress and shared prosperity for our great nation. We gather here in Lagos, seeking that this being at the forefront of Africa’s economic and trade acceleration, is a testament to Nigeria’s enduring leadership in regional and continental integration,” he said. National Coordinator, Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Olusegun Awolowo, said with the initiative, trade is the most sustainable path to prosperity.

Awolowo also pointed out that Nigeria has fully fulfilled all the requirements for accession to the GTI, adding that the stakeholders stand as witnesses to the official flag-off of trade under the preferential trading arrangement with this symbolic shipment of some containers from Apapa ports.

According to Awolowo, the first set of exports from Nigeria have been consigned to Cameroon, Kenya, Algeria, Uganda and Egypt with exports like bags, ceramics textiles, cables, smart cards, black soap, native starch and shea butter.

“With this official launch, we are transiting from planning for trade under the agreement to actively enabling our businesses to trade and win. It sets the stage for a new era of trade and prosperity for our country under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). “Our journey to this day, though long, has been one characterised by extensive stakeholder engagements and collaboration between the public sector and the private sector. Both sectors worked to articulate and develop the vision and framework for our national participation that will assure the success of businesses that will trade under the agreement,’ he said.

Nigeria is part of the African countries that signed the AfCFTA Agreement on July 7, 2019.