Olusegun Obasanjo, former
president, says it is “disappointing” that President Muhammadu Buhari failed to
sign the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
The former president says he
hopes that Nigeria signs “before it is too late”.
Forty-four African countries had
last week signed the historic free-trade zone agreement.
It is the largest in the world
since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995. The African
countries seek to form a $2.5 trillion continental free-trade zone.
Explaining its decision not to
sign, the federal government had said a committee was reviewing the treaty and
that it needs more input from stakeholders.
Reacting on Tuesday during a
presidential panel at the Africa CEO Forum in Cote d’Ivoire, Obasanjo said:
“That President Buhari didn’t sign the free trade agreement in Kigali is
disappointing; I hope he signs it before it is too late.
“Egypt started the discussion on
the formation of the Organisation of African Unity but didn’t conclude it and
Nigeria took over.
“Nigeria was also central to the
discussion of the free trade agreement, but I am surprised that the country
withdrew from signing.”
Prior to the signing of the
agreement, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) had advised the
federal government to exercise caution.
MAN urged the government to
renegotiate trade conditions that will impede economic growth in its review of
the AfCFTA agreement.
“We are afraid that the rules of
origin cannot be adequately enforced because goods from the EU can find their
way into one of the African countries that have bilateral agreement with the
EU,” Frank Jacob, president of MAN, had said.
“When the goods get into the
African country, they can repackage them, change the label from made in Europe
to that of the African country.
“That same goods will surely find
its way to Nigeria which is the main target market for the EU.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com