Menu

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) on Wednesday commended the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for its refusal to sign the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

MAN said it frowned at the contents of the deal, stating that it will only worsen the unemployment situation in the country, as the majority of the manufacturing companies in the country will be made to die a quicker death.

The President of the association, Frank Jacobs, stressed that MAN will only support future adoption and ratification of the agreement only if issues of market access and enforcement of rules of origin have been addressed.

According to MAN, the private sector's agitation is fueled by the lack of consultation and inclusion of inputs of key stakeholders before Nigeria's position was presented at the meetings of the African Union’s Technical Work Committee in the build-up to AfCFTA negotiations by Nigeria.

More than 40 countries have signed the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, which commits governments to remove tariffs on 90 percent of goods and to liberalize services. The agreement will still require ratification by individual governments and will come into force when ratified by at least 22 Member Countries of the African Union.

Speaking to journalists yesterday, Dr. Jacobs said that the issues of market access that permits only 10 percent of goods to be protected, as well as government's enforcement mechanism in the area of enforcement of rules of origin, need to be clearly defined before local manufacturers can support the deal.

Noting that MAN is fully aware of the benefits to be derived from installing a continental trade agreement like AfCFTA that could foster intra-Africa trade and enhance economic growth and sustainable development, Jacobs said that Nigeria's national interest, however, should be the primary consideration in the decision to sign-on to a trade agreement.

Intra-Africa Trade stands at 16 percent of the continent's total, compared to Latin America's 19 percent and Asia's 51 percent, according to the African Union. The AfCFTA agreement could increase trade between African countries by 50 percent, the United Nation's Economic Commission for Africa estimates.

President Buhari, concerned that the deal could lead Nigeria to become a dumping ground for finished goods, appointed a committee Wednesday to review the contents of the AfCFTA deal and report within two weeks.

South Africa and Uganda also abstained from the agreement signed in Kigali, Rwanda yesterday.