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Nigeria's government ratifies Africa free-trade membership

Published 12/11/2020, 16:47
Updated 12/11/2020, 16:48

ABUJA, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Nigeria has ratified its
membership of the African free-trade zone due to be launched in
January, the government said, after initial reluctance to join
the bloc for fear of exposing local industries to dumping by
countries outside the region.
A cabinet meeting on Wednesday endorsed the president's
decision to join the African Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA) following the signing of agreements last year,
Information Minister Lai Mohammed said.
Mohammed said countries have until December to ratify the
agreement, whose launch was pushed back after the new
coronavirus pandemic made its original start date untenable.
The onset of the pandemic halted negotiations and trading
between member countries during April and May and this made the
July 1 launch date impractical, officials have said.
Nigeria's ratification is an important endorsement as the
largest economy on the continent.
The continental free-trade zone, once implemented, will
bring together 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic
partnership and create a single market for goods and services
and movement of persons to increase intra-African trade.
It is to be implemented in phases, the first being to
establish a protocol for trade in goods and services and
dispute-settlement rules. The second will cover competition,
investment and intellectual property rights.
To date, 30 countries out of the 55 states in the African
Union have both signed and ratified the AfCFTA. Only Eritrea has
yet to sign, according to Tralac, a South Africa-based trade law
organization.

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