President Muhammadu Buhari has advised African leaders to ensure that free trade was fair trade for all member countries.
Buhari speaking on Sunday in Niamey, Niger, as he signed the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA agreement, at 10.47 a.m. local time at the opening of the 12th Extra Ordinary Summit of the African Union on launch of the Operational Phase of AfCFTA.
The President signed the agreement for Nigeria at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union on Launch of the Operational Phase of the AfCFTA, making Nigeria the 53rd country on the continent to append its signature to the document.
Recall that the President had delayed in signing the agreement, which entered into force May 30, 2019, to give room for extensive consultations with stakeholders as some interest groups, especially the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, had warned against signing the agreement without studying its implications on the nation’s economy.
Consequently, President Buhari set up Presidential Committee to Assess Impact and Readiness of Nigeria to join the free trade area which had in its report submitted last week, recommended that Nigeria should sign the agreement.
The recommendation noted that the agreement would help to boost intra-African trade.
Twenty four countries have already ratified the AfCFTA which is expected to be the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organization, WTO, with a potential market of 1.2 billion people and a Gross Domestic Product, GDP, of $2 5 trillion, across all 55 member states of the African Union.
A statement by Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, stated that President Buhari appended his signature to the treaty at exactly 10: 47 a.m. in the presence of African Heads of State and Government, delegates and representatives from the private sector, civil society and the media attending the summit.
In his remarks shortly after signing the agreement, the President declared that Nigeria’s commitment to trade and African integration had never been in doubt nor was it ever under threat.
He told the summit that Nigeria would build on the event by proceeding expeditiously with the ratification of the AfCFTA.
Buhari said: ‘‘Nigeria wishes to emphasize that free trade must also be fair trade. As African leaders, our attention should now focus on implementing the AfCFTA in a way that develops our economies and creates jobs for our young, dynamic and hardworking population.
‘‘I wish to assure you, that Nigeria shall sustain its strong leadership role in Africa, in the implementation of the AfCFTA. We shall also continue to engage constructively with all African countries to build the Africa that we want.”
Congratulating Ghana for being selected to host AfCFTA Secretariat, the President said: ‘‘I have just had the honour of signing the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, on behalf of my country, the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
‘‘This is coming over a year since the AfCFTA Agreement was opened for signature in Kigali, Rwanda, at the 10th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union, on 21st March 2018. In fact, you will recall that the treaty establishing the African Economic Community was signed in Abuja in 1991.
‘‘We fully understand the potential of the AfCFTA to transform trade in Africa and contribute towards solving some of the continent’s challenges, whether security, economic or corruption.
‘‘But it is also clear to us that for AfCFTA to succeed, we need the full support and buy-in of our private sector and civil society stakeholders and the public in general.
‘‘It is against this background that we embarked on an extensive nationwide consultation and sensitization programme of our domestic stakeholders on the AfCFTA.
‘‘Our consultations and assessments reaffirmed that the AfCFTA can be a platform for African manufacturers of goods and providers of service to construct regional value chains for made in Africa goods and services.
‘‘It was also obvious that we have a lot of work to do to prepare our nation to achieve our vision for intra-African trade which is the free movement of ‘made in Africa goods.
‘‘Some of the critical challenges that we identified will require our collective action as a union and we will be presenting them for consideration at the appropriate AfCFTA fora.
‘‘Examples are tackling injurious trade practices by third parties and attracting the investment we need to grow local manufacturing and service capacities.’’
President Buhari noted that Nigeria’s signing of the AfCFTA and its operational launch at the 12th Extraordinary Summit was an additional major step forward on the AU’s Agenda 2063.
Eritrea is the only African country yet to sign the agreement.
A total of 26 African countries have deposited instruments of ratification, with Gabon being the latest after depositing her instrument of ratification during the Extraordinary Summit.
The AfCFTA Agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019, thirty days after receiving the 22th instrument of ratification on April 29, 2019, in conformity with legal provisions.
