The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) could give Nigerian businesses access to African markets worth $504.17 billion in goods when fully implemented.
Emefiele, who spoke at the Zenith Bank’s 2021 Export Seminar held virtually in Lagos on Tuesday, said an extra $162 billion in services will also come to the country.
He, therefore, encourage Nigerian firms to seize the AfCFTA opportunity and ensure the nation becomes a significant hub for international and domestic manufacturing companies seeking to serve the country.
“I believe the AFCFTA will provide an opportunity for these young talented Nigerians to expand their services across the African region. Developing trade portals that could support instant sales of goods manufactured in Nigeria to consumers in other parts of Africa is one aspect that can help to support the creation of jobs in Nigeria and improve foreign exchange inflows for the country,” he said.
The CBN Boss said financial institutions in Nigeria are already playing a significant role in expanding across the continent.
“I would like to encourage them to also leverage their presence in other parts of Africa, to support Nigerian businesses seeking to expand into new markets in Africa, by providing trade facilities to those with strong potentials for growth,” he said.
Emefiele added that the central bank has taken steps to improve productive capacity of businesses, which he said would enable them to take advantage of export opportunities in Africa.
“Our intervention programs in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, are helping to enable businesses expand their scale of production, which is meeting growing domestic demand for goods, but also providing goods for the export market.”
