The National Coordinator,Nigeria/AfCTA Coordination Office, Olusegun Awolowo has again reaffirmed that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area(AfCTA) offers significant opportunities for Nigerian businesses to expand across the continent.
Awolowo maintained that with the right support , Nigeria businesses can compete favorably on the Africa continent.
The National Coordinator made these declarations during an exclusive interview with The Commerce Africa Magazine recently in his office.
While agreeing that Nigerian businesses have enormous potentials, he conceded that there is work to be done.
”While some sectors are well prepared, others need to improve in areas such as product quality, packaging and market access “, he said.
He expressed optimism that with continuous capacity building, infrastructures improvements and a strong commitment to quality standards, the sky would be the limit for Nigerian businesses and entrepreneurs.
When asked if the foot – dragging that characterized Nigeria’s signing of the AfCTA agreement was simply political rather than an effort to safeguard the country from becoming a dumping ground, the National Coordinator said:
”while political consideration plays a role in international agreements, the primary concern was indeed economic. The Nigerian government was particularly cautious about the potential risks to our local industries. The delay allowed us to conduct a thorough impact assessment which led to the establishment of the National Action Committee on AfCTA which the President recently approved to become Nigeria AfCTA Coordination Office with more powers on all AfCTA related matters”.
On the programs put in place to address the digital divide and low digital literacy, given the importance of e-Commerce in AfCTA, Awolowo explained that “ one of the adopted Protocols under AfCTA is called Digital Trade Protocol. With this in mind, the digital economy is crucial for the success of AfCTA and we are acutely aware of the challenges posed by the digital divide.
To address this, we will be working closely with the Ministry of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy as we continue to work towards expanding internet access across the country especially in rural areas, programs on digital literacy especially those targeted at women and girls and finally on policies that the growth of e-Commerce.
These efforts are aimed at ensuring that Nigeria entrepreneurs can fully participate in and benefit from the digital opportunities offered by AfCTA”.
