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By Merit Ibe
Stakeholders in the trade and investment sector have outlined ways Nigeria and Africa could effectively mobilise for the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement to record huge success.
Speaking at a hybrid symposium with the theme: AfCFTA: Roadmap to a successful Implementation, and hosted by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI),
Secretary-General, AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene, said to achieve success, there is need to engage the private sector as the sector constitutes 90 per cent of those in the working-age group and 80 per cent of total production in the continent. He warned that the road ahead is going to be very challenging, stressing that the full implementation was not going to be easy, urging participating countries to prioritise initiatives aimed at creating jobs and driving industrialisation.
According to him, Nigeria has a lot to benefit from areas of services, market expansion and investment in the trade pact.
The AfCFTA agreement was not negotiated for government but for the private sector, because it is the sector that creates jobs, investment, that invests in research development and in the future of our continent.
“So, it is absolutely critical that we bring in the private sector as part of the implementation plan of the agreement.” He pointed out that the road ahead was going to be difficult, saying countries should expect challenges, expect that some countries wont be as fast as others, but he encouraged participants to adhere to objectives to create jobs and industrialise the continent to make sure that the future of the young people is kept by the trade.
Also speaking, the Secretary, National Committee on AfCFTA, Francis Anatogu, who represented the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, said Nigeria must take advantage of the pact which presents opportunities for businesses to expand their operations, saying it would also expand market access that would catalyse local production which supports the nation’s Industrialisation drive. He said the Federal Government was working to mitigate the challenges of the trade deal, emphasising on the need to build a strong national brand to set Nigeria aside from other African countries.
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“Nigeria is committed to the full implementation of the agreement as we are also implementing programmes to aggregate Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for export trade,” he stated.
Nigeria would benefit from the continental trade pact in the medium term.
The minister said the AfCFTA was expected to complement Nigeria’s national development agenda and act as a catalyst for Nigeria’s export diversification.
“It also supports Nigeria’s industrial policy through the negotiated and agreed “Exclusion and Sensitive category lists” to provide space for Nigeria’s infant industries; and platform for SMEs.
“As with all other developmental initiatives, AfCFTA is not without its challenges, both in terms of its implementation and its overall outcomes.
“In the short run, there could be a threat to the survival of infant industries as established industries will be able to scale up operations more easily. But this will slowly disappear as smaller firms are incentivised to take up this challenge and scale up.
“Obviously, the more diversified economies with better infrastructure will benefit more from the trade integration in the short term.
“Nigeria lags in this area but given the huge amount of investment the federal government is making in the infrastructure space; Nigeria is poised to harness the gains in the medium term,” Adebayo said.
