Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the National Action Committee (NAC) for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
Buhari had earlier in July this year approved the establishment of the committee with the mandate to undertake a process of engagement with stakeholders to sensitize them on the opportunities and challenges of the regional free trade agreement.
Inaugurating the committee on Friday in Abuja Buhari charged the committee to support Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as businesses to achieve the full benefits of the agreement.
He said the goal of job creation; employment are some of the major reasons of the agreement, urging members to submit a report to him by March of 2020.
The report Nigeria’s Channels Television said that Buhari also disclosed that engagements with the Ninth Assembly would start soon.
The committee is made up of representatives of Ministries and Agencies with competent and relevant jurisdiction, and selected stakeholder groups from the private sector and the civil society
The report added that Nigeria signed the AfCFTA agreement at the 12th Extraordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Heads of State on 7th July 2019, in Niamey, Republic of Niger.
Upon ratification, Nigeria will domesticate the agreement by incorporating it into existing laws or enacting new laws, as appropriate.
The AfCFTA Agreement, which creates a single market for goods and services and movement of persons to increase intra-African trade and deepen African economic integration, has Phase I and Phase II negotiations.
GIK/APA