Buhari to Sign Africa Free Trade Agreement in Few Days

• Buhari to Sign Africa Free Trade Agreement in Few Days

President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the controversial African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement in few days, according to Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the president.

In a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday, Mr Adesina said the President has approved the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on the Impact and Readiness Assessment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

Therefore, President Buhari will be signing the Phase one of the agreement during the Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union and 12th Extraordinary Summit on AfCFTA in Niamey, Niger Republic in a few days’ time.

The countries that sign the first stage agreement will then move into country-level discussions before the final agreement.

Mr Adesina said president Buhari is looking to promote African production through the agreement.

He said: “Africa, therefore, needs not only a trade policy but also a continental manufacturing agenda.

“Our vision for intra-African trade is for the free movement of `made in Africa goods’. That is, goods and services made locally with dominant African content in terms of raw materials and value addition.

“If we allow unbridled imports to continue, it will dominate our trade. The implication of this is that coastal importing nations will prosper while landlocked nations will continue to suffer and depend on aid.”