President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the recommendations of the
Presidential Committee on the Impact and Readiness Assessment of the
African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, agreement.
By this, he will be signing the Phase one of the agreement in the course
of his attendance at the Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African
Union and 12th Extraordinary Summit on AfCFTA in Niamey, Niger Republic
in a few days’ time.
A country that signs the first level will then go into country level
discussions leading to treaties after safeguards are agreed to.
In accepting the reports as submitted, President Buhari made it clear
that Nigerian government will be seeking to include terms that engender
the development of policies that promote African production, among other
benefits.
In his words, “Africa, therefore, needs not only a trade policy but also
a continental manufacturing agenda. Our vision for intra-African trade
is for the free movement of “made in Africa goods”. That is, goods and
services made locally with dominant African content in terms of raw
materials and value addition.
If we allow unbridled imports to continue, it will dominate our trade.
The implication of this, is that coastal importing nations will prosper
while landlocked nations will continue to suffer and depend on aid.”