By Asmau Ahmad
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, has emphasised the importance of public/private partnership to drive Nigeria’s success in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Adebayo made the assertion at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) 45th annual conference on Thursday in Lagos.
The conference had as its theme: “Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and National Development: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities.”
The minister reiterated his commitment to ensuring that the private sector took its rightful place as key drivers in the AfCFTA.
He expressed the ministry’s interest in collaborating with the institute to enthrone principles of ethics and corporate governance, which he said was germane to the success of the AfCFTA.
“Nigeria has the largest population, a young, tech savvy workforce with an also large Gross Domestic Product figure, and the AfCFTA provides the right opportunity to unlock the country’s potential for growth.
“Businesses must be built on trust and principles that ensure its sustainability, and to this, the ministry is willing to pursue a relationship with ICSAN to enthrone ethics, which is a key driver to economic growth,” he said.
In his keynote address, Professor Akin Oyebode, said that the future of the continent was largely dependent on the success of the AfCFTA.
He, however, noted that the AfCFTA, since its take-off, had not secured the requisite traction.
Prof. Oyebode attributed the development to the similarity in the goods and products of the different African countries not availing the complementarity which diversity would have facilitated.
He said that the inability of many of the state-parties to transform the Act into their domestic laws had not helped matters.
“Furthermore, it does not appear as if the various African countries have sufficiently grasped the intricacies of economic integration on the African continent so as to be able to fulfill its objectives.
“The niggardly condition of the African countries and failure to discern the imperative to trade and collaborate with other African economies have cast a pall on the prospects of navigating out of the quagmire of poverty and underdevelopment.
“The synergy activated by synchronization with programs, policies and plans of other African countries should be tapped by the member-states in order to jump-start their economies to a higher level.
“If the dreams of the country are forward-looking, insightful and well-articulated, they would, undoubtedly, make a positive impact on the lives and circumstances of the preponderant majority of the people.
“However, where and when policies are not well thought-out or implemented in a slipshod fashion, the role of the AfCFTA might be marginal,” he said.
