AFCFTA: OSIBANJO URGE AFRICAN LEADERS TO TO TAKE RIGHT ACTIONS AS AFCFTA PRESENTS LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers limitless opportunities for the industrialisation of the continent.
The Vice-President urged authorities across the continent to take the right actions to actualise them.
He noted that such actions include the protection of local industries and improving value chains.
Osinbajo said this in a message he delivered at a roundtable on industrialisation in Africa with the theme: Positioning African Industries for Economic Transformation and Continental Free Trade, organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) to celebrate its Golden Jubilee on ThursdayHe said: “For certain, the AfCFTA is indispensable, if industrial development is to take off in Africa, because it offers wider markets and economies of scale which are essential for manufacturing to be competitive.
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“We must take policy actions to create an environment in which businesses can thrive. To start with, we must adopt the right type of macroeconomic and industrial policie
“It is important for African governments to provide a stable macroeconomic environment which avoids and smoothens out volatility in prices, sharp deteriorations in the current account and budget deficits and of course, rapid accumulation in debt burden.
Speaking on actions that will boost manufacturing, Prof. Osinbajo said: “On the industrial side, policies, like tariffs, quotas, subsidies and non-tariff barriers, which protect our infant industries so that they can create jobs and enable learning, are vital
“Well negotiated rules of origin are important in the context of the free trade agreements as they are key to preventing trans-shipment and the deflection of trade. Without them, firms from non-state parties could set up simple labelling operations in one member-state with a view to shipping already finished products to another member-state without really adding any value.
Also, the Vice-President yesterday travelled to Arusha in Tanzania on an official visit.
He is expected back in Nigeria on Monday
Prof. Osinbajo, who is expected to be hosted by his Tanzanian counterpart, Dr. Philip Mpango, will visit the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR), an African Union (AU) agency in Arusha, among other engagements, before he returns to Abuja on Monda
A statement on Thursday in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, announced the Vice-President’s itinerar
