President Buhari has said that with the steady implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the continent will have the potential to by 2030, double intra-African trade which will be evident in the reduction of importation of foods from the western countries.
The President made this known at his address during the opening ceremony of the 2nd Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 event in South Africa, on Monday.
President Buhari said, “We have streamlined the country’s participation under one roof to enable you to access all the information you need. Under the African Continental Free Trade Area, we can double our intra-African trade by 2030, reduce our reliance on imports and therefore create more jobs within the continent.”
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He cautioned that Africa cannot achieve intra-African trade by talking alone, adding that the implementation will be a difficult journey. He however, stressed that all challenges are surmountable if both the public and private sectors collaborate.
He urged that governments must support local entrepreneurs to build scale and therefore improve productivity, adding that ‘free trade must be fair and fairness can only be achieved when there is full compliance with regulations, especially those relating to rules of origin.
He reiterated that Africa must be a marketplace where no country is left behind. “As we implement, we must ensure that we create jobs and enhance revenues for all parties and must leverage on one another’s strengths to succeed,” he said.
Buhari revealed that over the past 5 years, Nigeria has made significant strides towards the diversification of her economy from an oil revenue-dependent country to a nation with diverse revenue sources. (Nairametrics)
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