ACCI tasks FG on policies to tackle AfCFTA challenges

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has urged the federal government to formulate policies that will tackle the challenges of regulation and competitiveness of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

ACCI President, Adetokunbo Kayode said this at a news conference on the challenges of AfCFTA in Abuja at the weekend.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on July 7, at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government in Niamey, Niger Republic signed the AfCFTA.

Kayode said that previous governments have made policies on industrial growth and revolution, adding that there was the need for the federal government to take industrial development issues seriously.

He said that the organised private sector in Nigeria has been in the forefront of discussions on whether Nigeria should be part of the agreement, asserting that competitiveness was one of the challenges facing the agreement as Nigeria is not competitive because of high cost of production.
He urged the government to put an end to regulations which act as stumbling block to businesses while advising government agencies to play their part for things to take shape.

“It is believed that our regulatory framework is opaque and we are not doing well in the ease of doing business in spite of our efforts in the past two years. Instead, of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) requiring for nine documents to enable export from the country, government can make it one document to boost exportation.

“Instead, of pushing people from table to table by the Nigeria Customs Service at the Nigerian ports, it can embrace technology by using single window scheme.

“We have issues about power generation among others, 90 per cent of these issues are government related and government needs to resolve these issues,” he said.

According to him, Egypt delivered 10, 000 megawatts in 27 months, adding that Nigeria can replicate that to generate a lot of businesses, create employment and jobs through its value chain for production to work seamlessly.

“Nigeria cannot be a dumping ground for other countries because those items presumed dumped are imported and somebody paid for them. In Benin Republic, 99 per cent of people importing rice are Nigerians.

“It is when we are not producing enough that people can only import, we are not producing enough because the system and government policies are blocking production,” he added.

Kayode, who is an AU trade policy ambassador, said that the African business community is excited by the agreement, but is also scared that Nigeria would take over business environment in the continent.