President Muhammadu Buhari, has
called on his counterparts across the continent to speedily establish a
single,
unified market in Africa to increase trade, create more jobs and reduce
poverty.
Buhari made the call while
presenting Nigeria’s position in favour of the report on the establishment of a
Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and related issues during the 30th Ordinary
Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement, said Buhari in
his reaction to be presented by President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic,
during the meeting said, “it is Nigeria’s position that as African leaders and
principal architects of our Union, we must now speed up action to conclude the
negotiations and establish the CFTA.”
Noting that the continent has
missed the timeline set by the African Union (AU) in January 2012 to establish
the CFTA in 2017, he said African leaders still had the opportunity to set it
up by March 2018.
Justifying Nigeria’s vote for the
CFTA, the President said: “In a rapidly changing global economy, with much
uncertainty, we believe that the establishment of a CFTA would provide Africa
with tremendous opportunity to achieve significant growth driven by
intra-African trade.”
According to Buhari, while the
stakes in setting up CFTA are very high, the benefits are wide-ranging and
significant.
“The primary objective is
economic, namely, for trade in goods and services on the continent. A single,
unified market would lead to a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade
agreement among AU member states. If we integrate Africa’s market for trade in
goods and services, we will not only double intra-African trade but also negotiate
with other regions or continents on trade matters,” he said.
President Buhari argued further
that, “if we increase our trade, we grow faster, create more jobs and reduce
poverty. Thus, with CFTA, our continent will be more integrated, united and prosperous.”
He noted that the, “CFTA will
carry significant welfare gains associated with increased production,
consumption and revenue
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