Follow Us on Google
- Kaduna, Abia express readiness
From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The government has done its part by signing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) document, it is now the duty of the Nigerian ambassadors and organised private sector players to harness business opportunities in the 53 member countries, a former President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (2010-2015), John Isemede has said.
The public and private sector trade Expert spoke on the sideline of a two-day validation workshop on identifying key trade-in-services opportunities under the AfCFTA for Nigeria, organised by the National Action Committee on AfCFTA supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
According to him, the issue of a single African market started in 1957, given to Nigeria on a platter of gold by the United Nations Commission for Africa in Ethiopia.
He further explained that the real AfCTA started in 2012 by African Heads of State with the Agreement reached and then signed by 54 members – with the exclusion of Eritrea which broke away from Ethiopia in 1991 to stand on its own making it a non-member of the World Trade Congress (WTC).
“Government is to sign an agreement in line with section 12 of our constitution. The Nigerian ambassadors are the ones to market Nigeria and Nigerians because an ambassador is in charge of all the activities of his Country in that host.
“For example, you don’t expect a woman selling orange and pepper to locate a market in China. It is the responsibility of ambassadors through the ministries of foreign affairs, trade, and investment through national planning and then the Central Bank to put a system in place that a groundnut seller can get a market in other African Countries.
“So, the government has done its part by signing the document in Niger Republic in 2019. It is now the duty of the organised private sector to tell us what they have done with this agreement since 2019.
“President Bola Tinubu said he would be hitting the ground running and the organised private sector now must be in tune with Mr. President while the CBN should be at the third layer”, he said.
A Director in the Kaduna State Ministry of Business Innovation and Technology (MBIT), Musa Isah Jibril remarked that Kaduna as an agrarian State has been preparing its young population for opportunities in other African countries.
“Kaduna is an agrarian state with a lot of natural resources that add to the national earnings. The State has entered into a tripartite agreement with Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) to train our youths with skills that they can export.
“These youths are planning to train 5,000 others who will be able to render services within and outside the State thereby reducing unemployment, insecurity, and other social vices identified with the youths.
“The issue of insecurity is being attended to with all the energy of the State government. Technical and vocational centres are being opened to engage the teeming young population for possible service exchange within the African business ecosystem”, he added.
On her part, Permanent Secretary, Abia State Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry (MTCI), Magdalene Kalu Onwu hinted that the State was about to witness unprecedented transformation.
“Abia has a lot of opportunities and businesses. The Governor is opening new rural roads to improve the state productivity. We want to see how we can key into African market and attract investors to the State.
“Now Abia is the most peaceful in the South East and we are inviting Nigerians and other nationals to come and invest in the State”, she said.
The workshop which has relevant federal MDAs, Kaduna State MBIT, Abia State MTCI, Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Society of Engineers, and NACCIMA among others in attendance, was organised to validate research findings and engage stakeholders in dialogue on trade-in-services opportunities under the AFCFTA five priority service (business services, financial services, transportation, and logistics, travels and tourism and communication services).
