The Governor Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele said that full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) expected to give Nigerian firms preferential access to markets in Africa worth $504.17billion in goods and $162 billion in services Emefiele made this statement in Lagos at Zenith Bank’s 2021 export seminar.
He said that AFCFTA offer significant opportunities for the Nigerian private sector to expand into new markets, and seek new export opportunities, particularly in the area of Manufacturing, ICT, Agriculture and Financial services, given our growing advantage in these areas relative to our counterparts in other parts of Africa.
He urged local companies to use the opportunity to ensure that Nigeria serve as a significant hub for international and domestic manufacturing companies seeking to serve the West, Central and East African Markets.
Speaking further he said “we have a very young energetic, technological savvy population that have been leveraging technological applications to improve service delivery in the areas of finance, logistics and agriculture to consumers in Nigeria. ” I believe the AFCFTA will provide an opportunity for these young talented Nigerians to expand their services across the African region.”
He said developing trade portals that could support instant sales of goods manufactured in Nigeria to consumers in other parts of Africa is one aspect that could help to support the creation of jobs in Nigeria and improve foreign exchange inflows for the country.
He stated that Nigerian banks are already playing a significant role in expanding their banking business across the African continent.
The CBN Governor encouraged them to also leverage their presence in other parts of Africa, to support Nigerian businesses seeking to expand into new markets in Africa, by providing trade facilities to those with strong potentials for growth.
