THE African Capacity Building Foundation, ACBF, the specialized agency of the African Union for capacity building, will help enhance the expertise of Africa’s private and public sectors to benefit from the proposed African Continental Free Trade Agreement, its executive secretary, Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie, has said.

The AfCFTA is expected to create a market incorporating Africa’s 1.2 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of $2.5 billion. Already 44 countries have signed the protocol and six countries have ratified it.

As currently constituted, the African private sector is weak and is not well organized to tap maximum benefit in the trade bloc, Prof. Nnadozie said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Africa Export-Import Bank just ended in Abuja.

“Attention has to be paid to its ability to take advantage of this opportunity,” he said.

On the readiness of the public sector, he said trade and industries ministries and other relevant government agencies that would be making appropriate policies and implementing them also need to revamp their capacities.

Prof. Nnadozie said despite the obvious benefits, it was doubtful if many countries would be ready to take advantage of the deal given the qualified success of the African Growth and Opportunities Act 17 years after it was signed. This is because few Africans are able to export their products to the US duty free in spite of the existence of that opportunity, he said.

One reason for this is the lack of a manufacturing base, Prof. Nnadozie said.

Following objection from Nigerian manufacturers, the government delayed endorsing the deal until after carrying out wide consultations with local stakeholders who are concerned that it could turn the country into a dumping ground for cheap goods from other countries.

Asked if he thought Nigeria would sign the agreement soon, he said: “The critical issue is the readiness of the country to implement it,” Prof. Nnadozie said. “It is one thing to sign, another thing to ratify; implementation is the hard work.”

To prepare the country, he said the ACBF is keen to help African countries carry out a readiness assessment that will identify the capacity needs in the countries and then design a plan to build those capacities.

– Jul 16, 2018 @ 18:45 GMT |