The National Action Committee on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has announced that it will collaborate with the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment to design a scheme that will allow agricultural products to flow effortlessly from point A to point B.
Mr Ogo Chukwura, the NAC’s Team Lead for Export Market Development, stated this in an interview in Abuja, stressing that the committee has begun developing policies for free trade in Nigeria in collaboration with appropriate export agencies.
Infrastructure development, he added, was critical to firms’ operational environments and a key cost driver. He emphasized that the policies will bring together ministries, departments, and organizations with roles to play in promoting trade growth in the country.
“We have engaged agencies such as the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Nigerian Export-Import Bank and core institutions based on the overall vision and strategy set up to identify the link between the roles of agencies. We want to coordinate to increase ease of doing business for Small Medium Enterprises.
“We are also partnering with the Ministry of Tourism and other stakeholders to ensure security. It is essential to ensure Nigeria is safe or at least tourist sites are safe so as to benefit from foreign exchange.”
Chukwura said NAC was also identifying the opportunities and developing strategies to boost trade.
“We have identified and mapped out the goals, opportunities and challenges while working to proffer solutions for challenges.
“Our focus rests on creating projects and programmes that can reduce cost, increase efficiency and increase the capacity of SMEs to trade and be competitive,” he said.
Power availability for businesses was critical, according to him, and his team was working with key ministries and stakeholders to identify power sources that could be made available to business communities.
He went on to say that talks were still going on to keep pricing within the reach of small owners.
He stated that the committee was collaborating with appropriate ministries on logistics in order to provide optimal service delivery.
