President Muhammad Buhari has finally signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. The president signed it at the 12th extraordinary session of the assembly of the union on AfCFTA and the first mid-year coordination meeting of the African Union (AU) and the regional economic communities (RECs) in Niamey, Niger Republic.
Buhari had delayed signing the agreement, explaining that he needed to understand the terms.
“Already, some of the treaties we are a party to have been significantly abused, resulting in massive smuggling which has crippled many of our local industries and destroyed millions of jobs,” Buhari had said.
But in June, a committee he set up on AfCFTA recommended signing of the treaty. Receiving the report, Buhari had said the treaty will have positive and negative impacts on Nigeria and its neighbours.
Here is all you need to know about AfCFTA:
LARGEST FREE TRADE ZONE IN THE WORLD
The free-trade zone is the largest in the world since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.
AfCFTA is a trade agreement between 54 AU member states, with the goal of creating a single, unified market for goods and services followed/facilitated by free movement and a single-currency union. At exactly 10:48am on Sunday, Nigeria became the 53rd country to append its signature to the document.
THA GAMBIA AS A ‘GOLDEN CHILD’
