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President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been commended for making trade a vital component of the nation’s economy.
Ambassador Dr Adamu Abdul Hamid, Nigeria’s Ambassador to World Trade Organisation (WTO) gave this commendation during an exclusive interview with The Commerce Africa Magazine on the occasion of his reflections on his activities in the last two years at the world body.
Ambassador AbdulHamid said “The Government of President Muhammadu Buhari made significant progress in terms of mainstreaming trade into national development plans. The Government is implementing reforms towards structural transformation, economic diversification, and digitization. It has also implemented several sectorial policies to boost production and foster the development of value chains and manufacturing activities by encouraging greater use of locally produced inputs in production through the creation of backward linkages. The overall objective is to diversify our export basket”
“In 2021, the Government launched the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2021-2025 a successor to the Vision 20:2020 introduced in 2009 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) both of which expired in 2020. The NDP is also a bridge for the country’s long-term plan currently being developed, that is, Nigeria Agenda 2050. The Government also developed the Trade Policy Action Plan (TPAP) 2021-2025 designed to underpin Nigeria’s efforts to overcome development challenges and better use global trade to drive growth and development. The reforms, policies and programmes of the Government continues to improve Nigeria’s Trade Performance”,he said.
The envoy submitted that “AfCFTA that is poised to improve Nigeria’s share of intra-African trade was negotiated under the guidance of President Buhari. The President’s nomination of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and her eventual appointment by members of the WTO as the first African and a Lady being appointed as the Director General of the WTO has promoted the image of Nigeria in the diplomatic and global trade circle”.
According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has restored trust and confidence to Nigeria on Trade and Investment despite certain security challenges.
