Nume Ekeghe
The federal government has stated that once the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is fully implemented, states across Nigeria would be urged to take advantage of their local produce for export purposes to be more economically viable.
The Secretary, National Action Committee on AfCFTA, and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Sector Matters, Francis Anatogu said this yesterday at a virtual interactive session tagged, “leveraging AfCFTA opportunities–The Road Ahead,” organised by Coronation Merchant Bank.
Also, the Managing Director of Coronation Merchant Bank, Mr. Banjo Adegbohungbe said the commencement of the AfCFTA would be a major catalyst for Africa’s recovery post-covid and urged Nigeria to fully embrace the opportunities.
Speaking on the opportunities for states across Nigeria, Anatogu said: “Afcta and exports offers us the opportunity to make every state in Nigeria economically viable and Afcta provide that platform. So it is really is about identifying what we have. Some specific products when you talk about them in Nigeria come to mind. In fact, it goes beyond Nigeria if you talk about Soya or Ginger, you’ll attribute it to Kaduna, or FinTech and technology you’ll talk about Lagos and if we can capture up to 10 per cent of Africa’s market, we would actually be doubling our export, total export revenue per annum.
“If you bring the closer as well and making every state variable that means that will not lead to business opportunity is to make every state in Nigeria provide opportunity for them to grow their local economy. Sell as much export as much as they can, and then protect their revenues as well.”
Adegbohungbe added: “ We have chosen to focus today’s conversation on the AfCTA and around the opportunities we would see in the trade and finance space as we begin to prepare for the post-covid business environment.
“Perhaps now more than ever, the expansion of Intra-Africa trade is a critical enabler for the Nigerian economy. In the African continental free trade area now enforce, the opportunities for companies and organisation to grow their business in a market of over 1 billion people with the combined GDP of $3.4 billion can no longer be ignored.”
