President Buhari Finally Signs African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday signed the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) at the opening of the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Gov on #AfCFTA in Niamey, Niger.

His personal assistant (photography), Sunday Aghaeze, made the disclosure on Twitter. He posted photos of the president signing the agreement.

Buhari had approved the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on the Impact and Readiness Assessment of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, agreement.

Garba Shehu, his spokesman, in a statement last Wednesday, said the president would be signing the Phase one of the agreement in the course of his attendance at the Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union and 12th Extraordinary Summit on AfCFTA in Niamey, Niger Republic in a few days.

“A country that signs the first level will then go into country level discussions leading to treaties after safeguards are agreed to”, it read.

“In accepting the reports as submitted, President Buhari made it clear that Nigerian government will be seeking to include terms that engender the development of policies that promote African production, among other benefits.

“Africa, therefore, needs not only a trade policy but also a continental manufacturing agenda. Our vision for intra-African trade is for the free movement of “made in Africa goods”.

“That is, goods and services made locally with dominant African content in terms of raw materials and value addition.

“If we allow unbridled imports to continue, it will dominate our trade. The implication of this, is that coastal importing nations will prosper while landlocked nations will continue to suffer and depend on aid.”