The Nigeria African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Coordination Office, have pledged its commitment to support Nigerian businesses to export their products under AfCFTA framework.
A representative of the Office, Ms Franca Achimugu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the Office was mandated to ensure businesses made the most out of AfCFTA.
“The Nigeria (AfCFTA) Coordination Office, under the leadership of the National coordinator, Mr Olusegun Awolowo is committed towards supporting Nigerian businesses to export under AfCFTA framework.
” This tool is one of several efforts by the coordination office in ensuring that businesses make the most out of the AfCFTA,” she said.
Achimugu said the Office had embarked on a three-fold project to ensure women and youths in Nigeria gained more visibility in the AfCFTA market place.
“First is to undertake a study to identify 10 top traded products by women and youths.
“This is to provide a clear understanding of the most economically significant products and provide deep market insights to support market development.
“Secondly, to develop a step by step market access guide for these identified products; and inaugurate a marketplace platform that will support market visibility and entry for women and youth traders in the targeted 10 products.
“This does not in any way imply that other products are not significant, but provides a foundation on which other priorities can be built,” she said.
Citing Nigeria’s strategy for the AfCFTA, Achimugu said that some interventions necessary for implementing the AfCFTA in Nigeria had been identified.
She listed them to include product prioritisation, capacity development on competitive production, providing trade information, forming business linkages and development of SEZs among others.
According to her, the final validation of the market access guide and the marketplace platform for the women and youth are deliverables from a project.
Achimugu said the project was commissioned to help women and youths in Nigeria to compete and trade better under the AFCFTA platform.
She, however, reiterated the importance of collaboration among key stakeholders to ensure the implementation of AfCFTA in the country.
The Coordinator for FABID Consulting, Prof. Abiodun Folarewo, who also spoke to NAN, highlighted new improvements to the Market Access Guide aimed at simplifying trade processes under the ACFTA.
Folarewo said the process had been made more seamless
enabling business operators to easily access the e-commerce section.
“The updated interface now allows users to view available products along with key information, such as product origin and HS codes.
“The platform also makes it easy for people to see those that are trading in various products,” he said.
According to him, the Guide simplifies the registration process for importers and traders looking to conduct business under AfCFTA.
“We have also added links to different organisations involved in trading. If I am searching for the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), I can easily click, access SON’s platform, and check registration requirements,” Folarewo explained.
According to him, the Market Access Guide will be finalised in the coming weeks and will be deposited with the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, which will oversee its distribution.
NAN reports that the primary objectives of the Guide is to provide comprehensive information about AfCFTA and its benefits to women and youth traders.
It outliniles strategies for women and youths to engage in beneficial trade under AfCFTA. Explaining Nigeria’s implementation strategy under AfCFTA.
It also offfer in details on market access conditions with Nigeria’s trading partners.