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FG identifies soybean, cocoa as priority products to boost foreign exchange Earnings

As Nigeria continues on the journey of implementing the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, the National Action Committee on the AfCFTA has listed Soybean, Cocoa as the two priority products for export under the trade.

The Committee in its Newsletter published in Abuja, noted that trading is a path that must be utilized in ensuring the beneficial implementation of the agreement in Nigeria.

It stated, “Achieving success with the AfCFTA means creating a diversified and sustainable Nigerian economy with strong linkages with neighbours and other top economies within Africa and in doing this, we seek to create a globally accepted country brand.”

The Secretary of the Committee, Francis Anatogu, noted that Nigeria currently exports soybeans worth $85m in the international market.

According to him, the potential export destinations for soybean, within the AfCFTA includes; Egypt which is the largest importer of soybeans on the African continent absorbing 82 percent of annual imports in 2019, followed by Tunisia with 12 percent of annual imports.

Other significant markets include Algeria, South africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Similarly, the potential export destinations for cocoa within the AfCFTA are South Africa, Egypt and Algeria.

He said, “It has become imperative that we understand the role we have to play on a national level, the role on a sub-national level and also the role that business, organization and individual have to play to ensure the beneficial implementation of the government.”

Anatogu further said that the Committee has encountered hurdles that needed to be addressed for the country to benefit from AfCFTA.

Some of them are production and productivity issues, infrastructure constraints, insecurity, predatory trade practices, funding constraints, and regulatory constraints.

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