Secretary, National Action Committee on African Continental Free Trade
Agreement (AfCFTA), Francis Anatogu, has disclosed that trade was yet
to commence due to delays in the conclusion of negotiations on rules
of origin and trade in services.
Anatogu, who made the remark while speaking on the theme:
“Implementing AfCFTA in Nigeria – the journey so far,” noted that
although official commencement date of trading under the AfCFTA was
January 1, 2021, as at May 31, 2022, rules of origin have been
concluded on 88 percent of tariff lines.
However, the outstanding rules of origin on automobiles, textile and
apparels, fisheries, sugar and tobacco, under discussion centre on
how to treat goods produced within free trade zones and special
economic zones.
In a bid to fast-track the commencement of actual trade, the Council
of AfCFTA Ministers at its meeting in February 2022, agreed to
commence trade based on the agreed rules of origin, thus paving the
way for state parties to gazette the legal instruments needed at the
national level to introduce procedures enabling customs departments to
operate under the new regime.
The NAC scribe said it has been acknowledged that the gains from
AfCFTA will only materialise through comprehensive and sustainable
implementation focused on outcomes, with Nigeria has established the
National Action Committee on AfCFTA to coordinate the implementation.
“The Committee has developed a national implementation strategy with
specific interventions to drive our mission, strategic objectives for
AfCFTA. We have also developed a result management framework to ensure
that our efforts are focused on achieving tangible outcomes. The
strategy and results management frameworks are currently being
validated with policy and regulation agencies prior to approval by the
Federal Executive Council.
“Our national strategy envisions leveraging AfCFTA to make our states,
cities and communities economically viable and resilient through
intra-Africa trade. Our mission is to become the preferred supplier of
value-added products and services to Africa. Our strategic objective
is to capture 10 per cent of Africa’s imports from the world to double
Nigeria’s export revenue by 2035.
“To achieve our AfCFTA mission and objectives, we have anchored our
strategy on eight (8) pillars, which are aligned to the African
Union’s framework for boosting intra-African trade.
Furthermore, in partnership with the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and
with support from Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Anatogu said the
committee has commenced a project to onboard Nigeria SMEs onto
e-commerce platforms focusing initially on three cities, namely:
Lagos, Aba and Kano.
Anatogu said in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development, the committee has commenced a project to
commercialise agricultural research findings available in the various
research institutes across the country as a key step to improve yield
as well as incentivise research and innovation for agricultural
products development for export.
“The Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations is leading efforts to
update Nigeria’s trade policy and to establish a trade remedies
authority to ensure that we have robust capabilities to tackle the
threat of unfair subsidies, dumping, smuggling and other predatory
trade practices.
“Following the approval of the National Quality Policy by the Federal
Executive Council, the institutional framework for its implementation
has been established and the execution of the implementation plan has
commenced.
“In conclusion, the AfCFTA journey has commenced in earnest and
intensive preparations are underway across agencies of government. The
NAC on AfCFTA is working assiduously to conclude the national AfCFTA
strategy and the associated results management framework and to
coordinate all public and private sector actors involved in
implementing AfCFTA to ensure that tangible outcomes are achieved.”