AfCFTA: Presidential C’ttee Meets Today on Nigeria’s Membership

Olawale Ajimotokan

The presidential committee mandated to widen consultation on the framework on Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will meet today and submit its recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari.

THISDAY exclusively gathered last night that the committee, to be presided over by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, will meet at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The members will reflect on the diverse positions of major stakeholders from the series of consultations undertaken in the six geo-political zones by the Nigeria Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN).

Some of the members of the committee instituted on March 27, include Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar.

Other top government officers on the committee include the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Adeyemi Dipeolu; Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Yewande Sadiku; Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler; Executive Secretary, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Segun Awolowo; Director General of NOTN, Chiedu Osakwe; the Senior Special Assistant, Public Sector, Francis Anatogu; Customs Comptroller General, Col Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and the General Manager Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), Edward Kabir.

It is expected that the committee’s recommendations will pave the way for federal government to ratify the AfCFTA pact before the next African Union summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania, next month.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, scorned the framework of agreement seeking to create the biggest continental free trade agreement in the world at the AU Heads of State and Government extraordinary meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 21.

About 44 African countries ratified the Kigali agreement to establish a free trade bloc within 18 months.

The last ditch withdrawal followed the groundswell of opposition to the creation of a single market by trade union groups and Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) over fear of job losses from trade liberalisation.

MAN was also concerned about enforcement of rules of origin and market access.

The AfCFTA that will liberalise services and remove tariffs on 90 percent of goods is expected to create a trade bloc of 1.2 billion people with a combined gross domestic product GDP of more than $2 trillion.

During the extensive nationwide meetings, NOTN consulted with Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), the Nigeria Poultry Association, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Micro- Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines andAgriculture (NACCIMA); Piggery Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Trade Experts Forum (NTEF) and National Economic Summit Group (NESG) among others.