Nigeria has agreed to sign the agreement that will establish a Continental Free Trade Area, CFTA, in Africa. The Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, made this known to State House correspondents after last Wednesday’s cabinet meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
According to him, Nigeria played a great role in the negotiations that led to the decision by the African Union, AU, to establish a Free trade Zone for the continent. Dr Enelamah said the agreement would be signed in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on the 21st of this month at an extra-ordinary session of the AU.
In the words of the Minister, “We discussed at the cabinet meeting today, the framework agreement for establishing the CFTA. Now, that framework agreement had been worked on, not just by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry but also by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice. The President also constituted a committee in February, 2017 that an inter-ministerial agency and organised private sector should work on it. All these had worked on it. What we did today was to secure federal approval for the stage we are now. Today, the Council approved for Nigeria to sign that agreement. It will be signed by our president at an extraordinary session of the AU”.
A highly elated Dr. Enelamah said the Council also directed Nigeria’s delegation to Kigali to lobby for the sighting of the Secretariat of the Free Trade Area in Abuja.
He expatiated further, “A Nigerian official was the chairperson of the negotiating technical team. Also the African Ministers for Trade and Group was chaired by me and so, we feel that it is better to lead than to follow. Therefore, we also got an approval to express an interest in the secretariat of CFTA, that the headquarters be located in Nigeria. Obviously, we are expecting it to be a competitive process but Nigeria will be interested”.
According to the Minister, the Nigerian Office for trade negotiations along Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the private sector will continue with the next stage of the negotiation.
