As Nigeria continues to miss crucial deadlines for joining other nations in trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), concerns have heightened among Nigerians about the country’s readiness and commitment to the trade agreement.
Checks by Shipping Position Daily reveal that Nigeria’s National Action Committee (NAC); a body that was specifically created to superintend the nation’s participation in AfCFTA has failed to meet critical milestones, casting doubt on the nation’s ability to fully participate in the continental trade initiative.
The Guided Trade Initiative (GTI), an interim arrangement designed to test the legal framework and Customs processes of participating state parties before the full implementation of the trade agreement, was officially launched on October 7, 2022.
However, Nigeria missed the August 2023 trading date for the launch of the second phase of GTI, an opportunity to join countries like Rwanda, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania, and Tunisia, which have already commenced trading under the GTI.
Despite assurances from the NAC that Nigeria would participate in the second phase of GTI by October 2023, the nation once again failed to meet the target. When contacted, the NAC had cited the awaited official launch date from the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana, as the reason for the delay, further exacerbating concerns about Nigeria’s readiness for AfCFTA trading.
In light of these developments, prominent figures in Nigeria’s trade sector have voiced skepticism about the country’s preparedness for AfCFTA. In a chat with our correspondent Mr. Remi Ogunmefun, former Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), expressed frustration over Nigeria’s apparent lack of readiness, citing the need for increased domestic production and crisis resolution before engaging in continental trade.
Ogunmefun lamented that the country is not producing, making it difficult to even begin trading under AfCFTA. “There are so many things that we need to do, we need to begin producing, we are not producing, the country is in crisis, I get frustrated about this, it’s as if nobody is ready, so how do we begin trading”, he questioned
Dr. Segun Musa, Deputy President of Air and Logistics at the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), highlighted two major reasons Nigeria may not be interested in joining AfCFTA. He pointed at the lack of local production capacity and deficiencies in Nigeria’s Customs operations, which hinder trade facilitation and ease of doing business.
“Nigeria is not interested in joining AfCFTA for two major reasons. The first reason is that we have nothing to exchange. All the local capacity has been killed. We do not have any capacity that can satisfy local consumption, so we have nothing to trade, except if we want to turn AfCFTA to adopting credit.
“Secondly, we don’t have a Customs that can facilitate it; the kind of Customs we have is the one that does not have experience in such continental trade. Our kind of customs in Nigeria is only informed about revenue generation. So for those two basic fundamentals, definitely Nigeria cannot participate” he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, an exporter; Mr Seyi Aderemi emphasized Nigeria’s unpreparedness for AfCFTA trading, attributing it to the absence of viable local production and inadequate Customs infrastructure.
Efforts to obtain comments from Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, Secretary of the NAC for AfCFTA, were futile as calls and messages sent to him remained unanswered.
