Yemisi Izuora
President Muhammadu Buhari has said government is cautiously following trends the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA, and that Nigeria will seriously consider the interests of its industries in deciding whether to sign up to a $3 trillion Africa free-trade agreement.
Buhari made this position known during his meeting with Council of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, on Wednesday.
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)encompasses 1.2 billion people. Fifty-two of the 55 countries that make up the African Union (AU) have now signed, but aside Nigeria, only Benin and Eritrea have opted not to sign up to the agreement.
Meanwhile, Buhari has refused to join the trade zone, which came into force last month and is meant to eliminate most tariffs to create a single market with free movement of goods and services, as he expressed the fears that by joining the zone other countries would dump cheap goods in the country and therefore undercut efforts to stimulate the manufacturing sector, which is currently limited.
Nigeria’s dependence on imports puts a strain on the country’s finances and foreign reserves as it relies on oil exports for around 90 percent of U.S. dollar earnings.
Buhari, said he was awaiting the findings of a committee set up in October to assess the potential cost and impact if Nigeria signed up to the agreement.
“Nigeria will be guided by national interest in taking any decision on the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area,” Buhari said in a statement. He did not say when a decision would be taken.
He told the manufacturers that the trade zone would be discussed at the AU summit to be held in neighbouring Niger in July.
“I don’t think Nigeria has the capacity to effectively supervise and to ensure that our colleagues in AU don’t allow their countries to be used to dump goods on us to the detriment of our young industries and our capacity to utilise foreign exchange for imported goods,” he said.