President Muhammadu Buhari has
declared that Nigeria will be guided by ‘‘national interest’’ in taking any
decision on the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA).
He said this on Tuesday while
receiving National Council of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN)
led by its president, Engr. Mansur Ahmed.
Buhari noted that he was ready to
receive the report of a committee set up to assess the potential costs and
impact of signing the agreement establishing the AfCFTA for Nigeria.
The President recalled that the
Presidential Steering Committee on the AfCFTA Impact and Readiness Assessment
Committee was inaugurated on October 22, 2018, with the mandate to assess the
extent to which Nigeria was ready to join the agreement, and what the impact of
doing so would be.
The committee was initially given
12 weeks to conclude its assignment, after holding wide consultations with
industry groups and stakeholders, including the MAN.
The President told National
Council of MAN the AfCFTA is on the agenda for the upcoming AU Summit in
Niamey, Niger Republic, in July.
‘‘I don’t think Nigeria has the
capacity to effectively supervise and to ensure that our colleagues in AU don’t
allow their countries to be used to dump goods on us to the detriment of our
young industries and our capacity to utilize foreign exchange for imported
goods,’’ he said.
President Buhari also promised to
look into the presentation by MAN highlighting issues of concern to the
manufacturing sector, namely the AfCFTA, Export Expansion Grant and other
incentives, challenges with the 2019 fiscal policy measures, recent increase in
NAFDAC charges, the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) (Amendment) Act,
2019, among others.
‘‘I assure you that I know the
enormity of our problems in terms of population growth rate and teeming young
people.
‘‘We need to move very fast, and
the government will try and encourage you as very much as possible so that the
problem of unemployment and the provision of other services relative to our population
and state of development can be tolerated,’’ he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the MAN
president outlined some credible policies that have driven the economy forward
in the first term of President Buhari.
Commending the Buhari
administration for consistent efforts to sustain the growth trajectory anchored
on improving the business environment, Engr Ahmed recognised the government’s
efforts at improving the Ease of Doing Business Project, fight against
corruption, focus on poverty reduction, job creation and inclusive growth as
well as the launch of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.
He, however, noted that despite
the significant progress recorded in the last 4 years, ‘‘it is clear that our
economy is still fragile.’’
‘‘With the GDP at 2.0 per cent
and below the population growth rate, the clouds are still threatening and the
task of driving the economy upwards is still enormous.
‘‘But Your Excellency we are
encouraged by the very strong commitment you expressed only last week in your
Democracy Day address.
‘‘You did say that in your second
term, your administration will do, even more, not only to continue to drive the
economy on the path of sustained growth but indeed to create a more inclusive
and sustainable economy,’’ the MAN president said.
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