The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, has said Nigeria can leverage on Africa’s $7 trillion projected Gross Domestic (GDP) by 2025 to grow its domestic market and reach over a billion consumers.
Mene said this on Monday in Abuja when he visited the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, alongside the Acting Director-General of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN), Victor Liman.
Mene said Nigeria led the processes that birthed the African free trade pact and also stands a chance to benefit from the initiative when it finally kicks off.
He called for speedy conclusion of Nigeria’s domestic processes for the implementation of the intra-African trade pact, including the ratification.
“We have to make sure that the agreement is inclusive in Africa,” he said.
The Trade Minister, Adebayo, assured the AfCFTA envoy that the Trade Ministry would soon transmit a memo on the ratification of the free trade pact to the Federal Executive Council for approval.
Adebayo reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to the implementation of the AfCFTA to grow intra-regional trade in Africa.
He said Nigeria was working to ensure that the country keys into the pact when the full implementation begins.
