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By Chinwendu Obienyi
The Federal government has stated that the strategic objectives of Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is to grow local demand for new Made-in-Nigeria automobiles to 200,000 units and local content to 40 per cent in over five years.
The Secretary, National Action Committee on AfCFTA, and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Sector Matters, Francis Anatogu, disclosed this at a virtual interactive session tagged “leveraging AfCFTA opportunities – The Road Ahead organized by Coronation Merchant Bank (MB) in Lagos on Monday.
Speaking at the forum, Anatogu noted that, while double intra-Africa trade currently flows at 15 per cent, the continent is looking at doubling its share of world trade from 3 per cent to 6 per cent over the next 10 years.
He added that with Nigeria having experienced recession twice and devaluation which impacted its ability to scale up, it needs AfCFTA to grow its GDP, reserves, exports and make every state grow their local economies as well as protect their revenues.
According to him, the country’s strategic objective is to capture 10 per cent of Africa’s imports as well as to double the country’s export revenue by 2035. He noted that Nigeria can take a comparative advantage at Agro products, Auto part equipment and freight services.
