Bimbola Oyesola
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said Nigeria cannot sign the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) agreement until the problem of infrastructure deficit, market access that allows only 10 percent and enforcement of rules of origin are addressed.
MAN President, Dr. Frank Jacobs, who stated this at a press conference yesterday, lamented that manufacturers association, as a major stakeholder, is not carried along in the decision which has to do with the nation’s economy.
He, however, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for staying back in the country rather than attending the meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, where the agreement is scheduled to be signed.
“It is pertinent to mention that MAN is not oblivious of the benefits inherent in installing a continental trade agreement like AFCTA; as it could improve intra-African trade and enhance economic growth and sustainable development.
“It is germane to government to fix power, roads and rail which would make Nigeria to be competing globally. Right now, we are disadvantaged in terms of operating environment which makes our products uncompetitive. It is self-survival instinct. We have to protect ourselves,” he said.
Jacobs said the rules of origin would equally take care of the European Union coming through some African countries, like Morocco, to dump their products in Nigeria, adding that all of them are interested in trading with Nigeria because of the population.
He said the anxiety of manufacturers was heightened with the apparent lack of consultation and inclusion of inputs of key stakeholders before Nigeria’s position was presented at the meetings of the African Union-Technical Working Group on CFTA in the build-up to AfCFTA negotiation by Nigeria.
“We were, therefore, worried that specific attention was not given to the cost and benefit analysis of the agreement; the sectors/sub-sectors that would benefit or be worse off and strategy that government should adopt to enhance the capacity of the manufacturing sector to compete effectively,” Jacobs said.
The MAN’s president said the association is on the same page with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) which it had earlier resisted due to anticipated mass job loss.
MAN, in a letter to the Federal Government, however, recommended that, as a matter of urgency, government should convene a special meeting of the relevant stakeholders, including experts on trade policy.
“Set in motion a process that will enable all stakeholders on the international trade value chain in Nigeria to quickly review the text of the draft AfCFTA agreement and come up with comments on areas that are not in the best interest of the Nigerian economy and sectors; Consider tariff lines’ rates along the line of efficiency, sectoral and sub-sectoral preferences that would be most beneficial to Nigerian businesses under the AfCFTA dispensation;
“Review all the positions of Nigeria presented by NOTN to the AU-TWG-CFTA, so far, especially the position on the framework agreement establishing the AfCFTA, protocols on trade in goods and services as well as justifications for the proposed progressive tariff rationalisation.”