The Federal Government recently reopened four borders – Seme border in the South West, Illela and Maigatari border in the North West and Mfun in the South South with optimism that others would be reopened on December 31. This action would enable Africa’s largest economy to participate fully in the long-awaited Africa’s single market.
Stakeholders, in interviews with The Guardian said the Federal Government would need to perfect its rules and procedures on border operations to prevent dumping. “AfCFTA is a good idea because we are working towards a free-trade region. It all depends on the managers, because they signed the ETLS treaty, it didn’t work. They signed the African Union treaty, it didn’t work. Eventually, it is Nigeria that is paying for other countries, which is not supposed to be.“It is unfortunate that we cannot handle our economic issues properly, but we feel there is a particular thing that is giving the people at the helm of affairs problems.
Others are to enhance the competitiveness of member states within Africa and in the global market; encourage industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development, agricultural development and food security; and resolve challenges of multiple and overlapping memberships.
However, a special report by SB Morgen captioned “The Year Ahead, Light At the End of the Tunnel, What to Expect” in 2021, said the ratification of the AfCFTA agreement would signal a more positive stance towards free trade, though this appears to be an overly optimistic view.“Currently, the Nigeria Customs Service maintains a 45-item list of banned imports, despite the country’s membership of the WTO and the implementation of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff.