By Amaechi Agbo
The Federal Government has inaugurated a Technical Working Group, TWG, on Africa Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA to promote made in Africa goods and services.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development, (FMARD), Dr. Ernest Umakhihe who oversaw the inauguration on Tuesday said the initiative will create a single continental market as well as reduce tariff and the application of non- tariff barriers to trade among African countries.
Dr Umakhihe added that AfCFTA agreement would be the largest trade and investment block agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), stressing that ‘’these opportunities will boost intra African trade amongst 1.2 billion people and a cumulative GDP of $3.4 trillions.
He noted that the National Action Committee (NAC) of the AfCFTA was constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari on 20th December 2019, to coordinate inclusive implementation processes for relevant stakeholders to assess the trade readiness and expected interventions.
