Sign Africa trade pact, South-south stakeholders urge Buhari

Indigenes of South-south geopolitical zone have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which 44 African States had already endorsed. They made the appeal yesterday in Calabar through a 19-point communiqué issued by stakeholders, including Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River state, at the end of sensitisation and consultation summit for South-south zone. Organised by the Nigeria Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the summit’s communiqué read in part: “South South Zone supports the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area as an economic agenda that would ensure the profi tability of the Free Trade Zones being constructed in the Southsouth zone. It would boost business, expand job creation and spur economic welfare and livelihood.
“In supporting that Nigeria signs the AfCFTA, it is necessary that the design and implementation of domestic policies and programmes would be pro-business, trade and investment and that appropriate safeguards are in place and tightened against injurious trade behavior and unfair practices from outside Nigeria’s borders. “The AfCFTA South-south Stakeholders Forum acknowledged the decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the on-going nation- and industrywide sensitisation and consultation exercise before Nigeria joins the AfCFTA. Sensitisation and Consultations were necessary, as a permanent process, in a democracy, based on the rule of law. “Stakeholders underlined the vital importance of trade and markets through the establishment of an ICT Cluster; improvement of private sector involvement in a number of sectors: such as Agroallied; cassava, palm oil, shoes, automobiles, garment and textile (CGT); and steel; and enhanced trade infrastructure/support for exports through collaboration with the PEBEC Secretariat to expedite the elimination of barriers to trade.” In his opening address, Governor Ayade said “trade and investment Integration was critical for growth, development, job creation and poverty reduction, not only in the South-south region, but throughout Nigeria.” He described trade and investments as “engines for growth,” adding: “In their absence, no economy could prosper and the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area is the right course of action for Nigeria and Africa because it creates huge opportunities for Nigerian entrepreneurs and businesses to expand intra-African trade.”