Information Minister Lai Mohammed told reporters after Wednesday’s FEC meeting that the council ratified Nigeria’s membership of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).
He said with this, Nigeria had beaten the December 5, 2020 deadline set for all member-states.
He recalled that Nigeria had, on July 17, 2019, signed the AfCTA agreement in Niamey during the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union with effective date fixed for July 2020.
He said the date was postponed to January 1, 2021 because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe.
“All member-states were given up to the 5th of December to ratify the agreement. That is precisely what Nigeria did today.
“The Federal Executive Council approved ratification of the membership of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement. It was ratified and as such, we beat the deadline of the 5th of December. Effectively, we hope that by 1st of January 2021, the agreement will come into force,” he said.
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