AfCFTA: Vice President Shettima Encourages Increase In Intra-Africa Trade

Vice President Kashim Shettima has emphasized on the need to increase intra-Africa trade, noting that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement must not be allowed to fail.

According to the vice president, the AfCFTA agreement has the potential to raise the continent's GDP. Africa's GDP can increase by $450 billion in 2035 and exports will be more than 81%, as per the World Bank projections.

During a breakfast event with African Heads of State, held on the sideline of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland, Shettima said that African trade can be raised by 52.3% by next year.

"We should increase these targets and look at the trillions of dollars. African countries need to move quickly to iron out whatever agreements and impediments are remaining to ensure free and smooth trade. Issues around rules of origin negotiations must be completed," he said, Premium Times reported.

To achieve trade goals, the vice president urged that "information sharing with private sector players must be optimized and prioritized," adding that "negotiations have turned out to be too slow, with clashes between national and continental priorities, leading to too few consummated deals between countries since January 2021 to date."

"Looking ahead, there is a need for speed and cohesion among African countries. The idea of AfCFTA must not fail, and there is no room for mediocrity in today's world," he further said.

The vice president gave examples of trade unions in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, explaining that "African trade cannot continue to be externalized even though we have increased intra-Africa trade from a mere 7 percent a decade ago to about 15 percent today."

The vice president also spoke with foreign investors Wednesday, encouraging them to invest in Nigeria.

He told the foreign investors that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration is working toward bringing in the "entire ecosystem of investors, from private equity players, to venture capitalists, impact investors and competent contractors from all over the world to partner with us in this quest."

Shettima also pointed out that Nigeria is the continent's largest economy and with the largest population, stressing that the country is currently repositioning its economy away from crude oil dominance, with deeper footprints in technology, arts, cultural creativity, and industrialization.