The President, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Prof. Benedict Oramah, on Thursday in Abuja, urged the Federal Governmentto set up a specialised agency to enable it take advantage of the opportunities offered by the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Delivering the keynote address at the 2019 Independence Day Dinner and Gala Night to mark the 59th anniversary of the country’s independence, Prof. Oramah said such an agency should be the arrow-head for achieving Nigeria’s strategic objectives for its membership of the AfCFTA.
According to him, Nigeria’s goal should be set out in a carefully developed strategy and entrusted to an accountable set of people to implement
He described AfCFTA as a platform for Africa’s collective self-reliance and said the country had a great opportunity to benefit immensely from it if certain actions were taken at the federal, state and corporate levels in a coordinated manner.
He said while the promise of the AfCFTA in terms of development outcomes was not in question, the road ahead was likely to be rough and turbulent, saying the country should consider triggering an adjustment process for operators in sectors likely to be negatively impacted and putting in place arrangements to support those that could become competitive by simple re-tooling and transforming from import substitution to export orientation.
He also urged the government to make credible trade information available to local businesses interested in international trade, especially intra-African trade, arguing that while the AfCFTA creates the legal basis for a potential pan-African market in goods and services, the creation of that market was the job of economic agents whose operations were usually driven by information.
“Unless businesses and traders know where the markets for their goods are or where they can source inputs, they cannot participate fully in the market the AfCFTA is hoping to create,” he stated.
Prof. Oramah said the strongest economic argument in favour of the AfCFTA was that it would help African economies to industrialise and improve the continent’s share of global manufacturing output, and advised that the medium- to long-term goal for Nigeria and other African economies should be to achieve clearly defined levels of industrialisation.
He said: “Available evidence shows that labour intensive light manufactures offer the greatest market opportunity for Nigeria.”