Nigeria supports its commitment to join the newly accepted free trade area of Africa by setting up a committee to enforce the treaty and promising revised legislation where needed to enact the pact, the presidency said on Sunday.
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), introduced on July 7 by African leaders, will generate a $3.4 trillion economic bloc if successful and reinvigorate a new era of growth.
Despite earlier reluctance to confirm that it would not open local sectors to dumping from nations outside the region, Nigeria entered AfCFTA, and its choice is a major endorsement as the continent’s biggest economy.
The presidency said it would set up a committee to enforce the trade agreement, consisting of government agencies and private sector organizations.
President Muhammadu Buhari intends to approve a number of measures to promote trade and increase local ability to generate and export products and services, he said, among other policies in preparing Nigeria for the pact.
“Overall, the implementation of the AfCFTA is going to be a long journey,” it said. “Nigeria is committed to ensuring that Africa achieves a free and fair trade environment … through increased intra-African trade.”
The president of the African Development Bank informed the media on Saturday that if they want to take advantage of the initiative, African countries will need to increase the production of products and services and incorporate payment systems.
The AfCFTA agreement would be introduced in stages, creating a single market for products and services and people’s movement to boost intra-African trade and deepen African economic integration.
A protocol for trade in products and services and dispute settlement regulations will be established in the first stage. The second will contain the freedoms of competition, investment and intellectual property, with negotiations to begin next year.
