The taking off of African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCTA) takes off on January 1, 2021, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, has called on Nigerians, particularly industrialists to take advantage of the inherent opportunities to promote Made-in-Nigeria goods.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Ifedayo Sayo, the Minister said Nigeria cannot afford to be left out of the emerging African economic block, stressing that AfCTA will form a 3.4 trillion dollars economic bloc, which in Nigeria must play a leading role.
The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), the world’s largest free trade area in terms of 54 participating countries, will commence on January 1, 2021.
The commencement date will signal the beginning of the implementation of a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments across Africa.
The Minister said, “The journey started on July 7, 2019 when Nigeria became the 53rd African country to sign the AfCFTA treaty. Long before then, it had always been the dream of Nigeria and Africa’s founding fathers to unite the continent in one, shared prosperity.
“We have worked tirelessly to ensure that Nigeria not only partake as a signatory in name, but becomes a major trade and economic power house, even more than we have been within the ECOWAS sub-region.”
Also speaking on readiness measures taken by government towards the effective implementation of AfCFTA, the Secretary, National Action Committee on AfCFTA, Francis Anatogu said, “We are effectively coordinating with all critical stakeholders to ensure a smooth playing field for Nigerian traders and business men to explore the vast markets that will be opened up come January 1st 2021.
“We are set to commence a major communication campaign and have tagged January 2021 as AfCFTA Awareness and Sensitization month, which will take place across the six geopolitical zones, and will involve various stakeholder groups in public, private and civil society sectors, as well as other critical traditional institutions.”
