Nigeria has ratified the country’s membership of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) created for a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments within the African region.
With the ratification, Nigeria has beaten the December 5 deadline set for all countries to ratify their membership of the intra-Africa trade deal.
President Muhammadu Buhari supervised the ratification process during the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which he headed at the Presidential Villa, Lai Mohammed, Minister for Information and Culture said.
On 7 July 2019, Nigeria signed the AfCFTA agreement in Niamey during the 12th extraordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union. The operational phase of the AfCFTA was launched on the same day.
The effective date for the agreement to come into force ought to have been July 2020, however, it was postponed to 1 January 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All member states were given up to 5 December 2020 to ratify the agreement.
“That is precisely what Nigeria did today (12 November). The FEC approved the ratification of the country’s membership of the AfCFTA,” said Mohammed.”
“Effectively, we hope that by 1 January 2021, the agreement will come into force,” the Minister added.
The AfCFTA provides an opportunity for Africa to create the world’s largest free trade area, uniting 1.3 billion people in an economic bloc with a combined GDP of US$2.5 trillion and ushering in a new era of development.
The main objectives of the AfCFTA are to create a continental market for goods and services with free movement of people and capital and pave the way for a customs union. It will also grow intra-African trade through better harmonisation and coordination of trade liberalisation policy across the continent.
The AfCFTA is further expected to enhance competitiveness of African industry and enterprise by exploiting the opportunities for scale production, continental market access and better reallocation of resources.
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