Shippers Council to sensitise MSMEs in South -East on the potentials of ACFTA

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), the country’s ports economic regulator, will on Thursday sensitise operators of Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in the South-East zone of the Country on the potentials of African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), a new market that is expected to promote trade on the continent.

The semenar entitled, “Unlocking the State Great Potentials of Non-oil Business, through Participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area: What Stakeholders Need to Know”, will hold in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State.

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ACFTA, aims at creating single continental market for goods and services with free movement of business, persons and other investnents.

In Nigeria, the proposed African market, is expected to create huge opportunities for MSMEs, by increasing their competiveness, profitability, creation of jobs and providing access to a large market beyond the country’s borders.

This without doubt, would stimulate the capabilities of the MSMEs and promote non-oil exports for the economic growth of the country, said Margret Ogbonna, zonal director, South-East Zone of the NSC.

Ogbonna stated that the South-East geo-political zone, especially Aba, has lots of business clusters that are into informal exports, that need to be put through on ACFTA protocols.

Using the Aba finished leather cluster- manufacturers of shoes, belts, bags and trunckboxes, for example, Ogbonna said that the cluster informally exports over one-million pairs of shoes and other finished leather goods to other parts of Africa, weekly.

According to her, there are over 250 key entrepreneurs in the finished leather and garment production sub-sector and over one- million people actively engaged in the fashion sub-sector of the economy.

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BusinessDay reports that with the theme “African Continental Free Trade Area Market Opportunities, Processes and Procedures”, the seminar aims at educating stakeholders on ACFTA, x-ray the benefits, issues, prospects and challenges of participation in ACFTA.

The seminar will also prepare the South-East stakeholders to compete in Africa’s single market, and identify measures for stakeholders products to meet export demand in terms of quantity, packaging, and quality.