The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which implementation phase took effect from January 1, this year, has the potential to build Africa’s capacity to manufacture, change the narrative of the continent’s economy and give Africa a stronger voice and positioning in the global economy.
Making this known in Lagos, President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mansur Ahmed, expressed confidence that there would be a tremendous opportunity for growth and development for every one if the countries were willing to to make it a success.
Ahmed, who spoke at this year’s ‘MAN Reporter of the Year Award/Presidential Media Luncheon at MAN House, Ikeja, Lagos, commended the Federal Government for its decision to re-open the land borders for ease of trade engagements, particularly under the implementation phase of the AfCFTA.
Trading under the long–awaited AfCFTA finally began on January 1, this year, marking a very important milestone for African trade. The free trade agreement creates a single continental market for goods and services, with the aim of increasing intra-African trade by reducing tariffs by 90 per cent and harmonising trading rules at a continental level.
The AfCFTA has the potential to increase intra-African trade by 52.3 per cent by 2022, but this, according to Ahmed, could not come without challenges, one of which is the issue dumping.
“The dumping issue frankly is a matter of political will. Do our governments and political leaders have the political will to agree on those things that we have to do?,” he asked.
The MAN chief, however, said, for instance, that to ensure that dumping was disallowed, there was the need to ensure that countries that operate based on the rule of origin that has been agreed.
“But the difference is that while some countries will ensure that these regulations are complied with, others unfortunately, will not do so,” he said.
Ahmed, therefore, called for an effective monitoring mechanism to ensure that countries do the right thing.
He stated that at the level of the association: “We have conducted series of webinar workshops for our members to get them fully prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that are imbedded in the agreement.”
He also said while MAN trusts that the the government will play its part to put adequate measures in place for a beneficial trade agreement, “We look forward to an effective National Action Committee on the AfCFTA.’’
Ahmed noted that last year was quite challenging for manufacturers, partly due to some perennial issues bedeviling the sector and others thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic and the hijacked EndSARS demonstration, which, according to him, placed immense pressure on the social and economic structures of the economy.
“Significant amongst the challenges faced by manufacturers were difficulty in accessing forex to procure raw materials not locally available; high cost of electricity/power; high cost of transportation; low demand of commodity; difficulty in accessing funds; regulatory issue from numerous regulatory agencies; poor port administration and unavailability of raw materials; policy somersaults etc,” he said.
Ahmed lamented that the implication of these challenges highlighted is that it impedes the manufacturing sector’s growth and development, thereby affecting the attainment of the sector’s full potential of massive job and wealth creation.
The MAN Reporter of the Year Award was instituted to appreciate and reward members of the fourth estate of the realm, who, as partners, have been constantly championing the course of the manufacturing sector through in-depth reportage of the Association’s activities on their various media platforms.