Ecobank on Tuesday urged Nigeria to take the lead and position itself for optimum benefits from the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
According to the bank, with the largest and most vigorous economy in Africa, Nigeria must position itself to lead in the continent with a population of about 1.2 billion people – and projected to double by 2050, making it one of the largest free trade area the world.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan who spoke at the 25th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, said Nigeria must take deliberate efforts to make it’s business environment competitive. The country whose population is expected to more than double to over 400 million would also have to develop the right skills else skills movements across the continent would be a disadvantage for Nigeria.
Akinwuntan, who was at the the panel session titled “AfCFTA: “Capitalizing on Opportunity”, said there is the urgent need to fix certain infrastructure within the Nigerian Economy to allow for a competitive operation and to bring about ease of trade.
He noted that infrastructures that will aid timeliness in carrying out business activities, such as fixing of the present transportation system, fixing of the current electricity issues and ease of import and export activities within our ports and borders need urgent attention.
“One of the clear lessons to note for us to compete effectively, and to excel in the advantages that the AfCFTA agreement offers, is that we have to act at Global standards and project Africa as one market. Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa, and as such we need to step up, by fixing all the hindrances to the AfCFTA agreement within our economy,” he said.
Further he said some smaller countries are positioning themselves for the opportunities that abound in the free trade agreement, and so we must be ready.
For the financial institutions, he noted that there is the need for an effective African payments system, as this will greatly impact the agreement. “At Ecobank we have a pan-African payment system that works across 33 African countries and this will help in creating seamless trade transactions once the AfCFTA agreement is implemented. The Ecobank app is a unified app that caters to Africa’s diversity in language and currencies, this will further contribute to the advantages of the AfCFTA agreement.” He stated.
Also speaking on the panel session is Assistant Chief Trade Negotiator, AfCFTA/ECOWAS, from the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN), Demitta Gyang Chinwude, who emphasized the need for everyone to understand the laws of the AfCFTA.
According to her, “the first things businesses need to know is to know the laws guiding the AfCFTA agreement, they need to know their rights and equip themselves adequately to operate within these laws. All businesses, must have an AfCFTA desk officer, who will act as a liaison officer and is equipped with the right information for your business”
Chinwude said the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN,) is taking the lead by breaking down the laws of the AfCFTA into leaflets that will be easy to understand.
Onyinye Nwachukwu, Abuja
