How Africa imports 85% of its consumption

Due to the inability to manufacture its raw materials and boost production, African countries import about 85 per cent of what it consumes, Secretary of the National Action Committee of African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), Mr Francis Anatogu has said.

Mr Anatogu while addressing a Press Conference in Abuja on Monday ahead of the Sub-national strategy workshop affirmed that with the coming of the AfCFTA, the narrative will not remain the same

In his remarks, he said “Africa imports 85 per cent of what it needs and that is why AfCFTA is here to change the narrative and make Africa an export-based continent.

“The objective is to promote trade and economic integration among African countries through a single market for made in Africa goods and services coupled with free movement as well as liberalizing trade by removing non-tariff barriers and harmonizing standards.

“For Nigeria, it is a unique moment because it is a journey to export-led growth. AFCFTA provides us the opportunity to position Nigeria as a hub for trade in goods and services”.

Speaking on the rationale behind the workshop, Mr Anatogu said it is geared towards working with states to define their strategies, and build capacity as Nigeria will only benefit from the AfCFTA if the natural resources residing in the states are properly harnessed.

“As such, building the capacity and infrastructure has to be targeted down to the states and the grassroots because we can’t do this without improving productivity which the workshop is all about”.

Responding to enquiries on the collaborations between the committee and the state governors, the governor’s forum has been at the forefront of working collaboration with the committee to ensure AfCFTA is successful.

He said the expectations are that at end of the workshop, every state will have an outline of what they need to do.

“We have developed a draft national strategy implementation plan, so we got a draft implementation plan and part of the objective of the workshop is to harmonize,” he added.

In his address the Director-General of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru said the NGF secretariat serves as a policy hub of the Nigerian Governors forum and has been a strong advocate of export-based trade in Nigeria and the continent

“We can’t overemphasize the need to ensure the buying of the states and the local level to ensure the success of the AfCFTA.

“The governors have come together and had made it an agenda for several months; however the initiative takes time as you have to convince people, but with the commitment of the states so far, significant progress will be recorded. “As such, the workshop is collaboratively organized to have a clear understanding and outline strategies to define priorities and engage MSMEs especially at the state level to leverage on the AfCFTA and grow their businesses,” he added.