The chairman, governing council of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Hon. Babangida Nguroje have listed the enormous gains of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former deputy speaker said on Friday in Abuja that the benefits which includes opening up of the African market and removal of all encumbrances that hitherto posed hindrance to economic growth within the region.
He said that with Africa as the biggest economy in the world with 54 countries and Nigeria standing as the biggest economy in Africa and its biggest market, the country stands to benefit more from the trade agreement and commended President Buhari for signing it.
According to the NIPC chairman, the commission whose responsibility is it to attract foreign direct investment in Nigeria will take full advantage of this feat and consolidate on its gains made so far in line with its mandate.
He said that all African countries need the Nigerian market and urged the committees working on the single currency policy to fast track the process so that it would further open up the African market and ease of doing business within the African region.
“The country must equally fast track all measures that will ensure returns on investments are higher and sustainable as a way of attracting more investors through a conducive business environment,” Nguroje said.
He said that since the official announcement of the trade agreement in Kigali in 2018 the country has anxiously waited for its full legality and authority which has now been actualized.
“Therefore we must put in place all that is required to ensure that rather than backslide we must make progress in a manner that the country’s economy is placed on a steady progress,” he said.
He said that the benefits of signing the agreement by far outweigh the fears in some questers that Nigeria will become a dumping ground.
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