MAN urges FG not to sign AfCFTA agreement

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has backed the move by the federal government on its refusal to sign the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

MAN frowned at the contents of the agreement, saying that it would not only lead to gross unemployment in the country, but would hasten the collapse of most manufacturing companies in the country.

In a press briefing in Lagos, MAN’s president, Dr. Frank Jacobs, said his association would not support federal government’s adoption and ratification of the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) until issues of market access and enforcement of rules of origin are addressed.

AfCTA, according to him, is expected to create a trade bloc of 1.2 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than $2 trillion. The agreement commits countries to removing tariffs on 90 per cent of goods and to liberalise services.

Jacobs explained that issues of market access that allows only 10 per cent of products to be protected as well as government’s enforcement mechanism in the area of enforcement of rules of origin need to be clearly defined before local producers can support the agreement.

While admitting that AfCFTA would improve intra-African trade and enhance economic growth and sustainable development, Gr. Jacobs insisted that Nigeria’s national interest should however be the primary consideration in the decision to sign-on to such an arrangement.

He, therefore, called on the government to set in motion, a process that will enable all stakeholders on the international trade value chain in Nigeria to quickly review the text of the draft AfCFTA agreement and come up with comments on areas that are not in the best interest of the Nigerian economy and sectors.

 

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