The federal government has been urged to design an export strategy if it wants to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The export strategy will detail the processes that guide products meant for export. A Faculty member of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Dr Frank Ojadi made this revelation in Abuja yesterday at a five-day training programme aimed at equipping participants with relevant knowledge, tools and skills required to develop their export business in line with global best practices. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement will create the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of countries participating. The pact connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at $3.4trn. It has the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty, but achieving its full potential will depend on putting in place significant policy reforms and trade facilitation measures.
The AfCTA is also projected to lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty and boost the incomes of nearly 68 million others who live on less than $5.50 a day; increase Africa’s exports by $560bn, mostly in manufacturing; spur larger wage gains for women (10.5 percent) than for men (9.9 percent) and boost wages for both skilled and unskilled workers—10.3 percent for unskilled workers, and 9.8 percent for skilled workers. Ajadi warned that the absence of clearcut guidelines on exports may hinder Nigeria from benefiting maximally from the AfCFTA Agreement when it takes off. He urged the federal government to take deliberate steps to address the challenges confronting coastal shipping as well as the high costs of shipping. According to him, “I was examining the coastal shipping which ought to boost the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and I discovered that high costs in our ports and shipping are contributing to our not being competitive enough to export products.”