AfCFTA reforms to boost Nigeria’ non-oil export by over 15%

President Muhammadu Buhari has said the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) reforms will increase Nigeria’s non-oil exports to other African countries by more than 15 per cent.

Buhari stated this yesterday at the ninth African Shippers’ Day with the theme: “African Continental Free Trade Agreement: A Veritable Platform for African Shippers to Mainstream Into Global Trade” held in Lagos.

Buhari listed the export goods to include, textile, wearing apparel, leather, wood and papers, metals, electronics, vehicles and transport equipment and machinery for the industrial sectors.

Others are fishery, meat, poultry, milk and dairy products, rice, other cereals, plant-based fibers and other crops, fruit, vegetables, nuts, vegetable oils and other food products, beverages and tobacco as well as livestock for agriculture and food sectors.

Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of State for Transportation, Ademola Adegoroye, said Nigeria’s exports would increase significantly to other African sub-regions, outside West Africa, with most impressive expansions to countries such as Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

He said also owing to Nigeria’s sheer economic size, the country is among African nations expected to experience the largest, absolute expansion in intra-African exports and also the ECOWAS member expected to receive the largest boost to intra-African exports.

“In Nigeria, we have realised that AfCFTA would be a game changer when it comes to stimulating intra-African trade because the more ambitious the trade liberalisation, the greater the expansion of Nigerian exports to its African partners,” he said.

Buhari said the global economy is a source of growth that African economies cannot afford to ignore, noting that while African exports have seen their fastest growth in the past decade, the volumes remain low at just three per cent of global trade.

He said the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) projected that AfCFTA could boost intra-Africa trade by 52 per cent, with the industrial sector forecast to gain the most.

Buhari said Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and exports would increase by $44 billion and $56 billion respectively, while AFCFTA could potentially increase jobs and move informal traders into the formal sector.

He said following this, African countries must therefore expand and diversify their participation in international trade and global value chains to create wealth, generate employment and reduce poverty on a large scale as well as transform their economies.

He said experience during the Covid-19 pandemic and the attendant global lockdown showed the need for a vibrant and successful AfCFTA as it exposed Africa’s dependence on commodity exports to other parts of the world and import of manufactured goods from them.

“Deepening regional integration to scale up supply capacity and build regional value chains is essential to the continent’s economic transformation.

The establishment of the AfCFTA presents major opportunities of production and exports, creates employment, and limits the impact of commodity price volatility on the economies of various African countries.

“AfCFTA is expected to bring about a number of benefits to producers, consumers and countries alike. The hope is that African producers would benefit from cheaper inputs and intermediate goods as well as larger markets for their products while consumers have access to cheaper goods and a broader variety of products,” he said.

Buhari said African economies should experience gains from trade and further benefit from removing the onerous requirements belonging to multiple and overlapping trade agreements within the continent.

He said for AfCFTA to have a positive influence on long-term productive capacities, African governments must develop appropriate supporting policies, build the requisite infrastructure and ensure an educated workforce.