The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure inclusion of freight forwarders in the composition of the National Action Committee (NAC) for the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement so as to drive the process successfully.
It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the establishment of a National Action Committee (NAC) for implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, which he signed on behalf of Nigeria at the 12th Extraordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Heads of State on 7th July, 2019, in Niamey.
The Presidency on its official twitter handle on Sunday said that the National Action Committee would be comprised of representatives of Ministries and Agencies with competent and relevant jurisdiction and selected stakeholder groups from private sector and civil society to coordinate the implementation of all the AfCFTA readiness interventions.
According to Presidency, the National Action Committee (NAC) would upon inauguration; undertake a process of engagement with stakeholders to sensitize them on the opportunities and challenges of the AfCFTA, with preparedness plans for Nigerian economy.
Speaking on the development, the Chairman, Research and International Liaison Committee of the Council, Chief Increase Uche who made the call in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos said that the call became necessary as the committee was bound to fail like others before it if he (Buhari) fails to get the freight forwarders it.
Uche who recalled that the government started on good footing by setting up the Committee on Impact and Readiness Assessment of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, however regretted that the Committee failed to include the freight forwarders who according to him were the managers of the supply chain in their work schedule throughout its duration.
He argued that the freight forwarders were supposed to form the essential part of the Committee because the entire AfCFTA had to do with trade right from the production of the cargo to movement of the cargo across the production lines to the warehouse, then distribution and transportation down to the final consumer.
Uche who is also the National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) observed that a holistic look at the AfCFTA would reveal that there were factors that would either make or mar Nigeria in meeting with the requirements of agreement adding that “First is that countries like Egypt, Kenya, South Africa that are more advanced in infrastructural development, capacity and the enabling environment that will enable any country to compete in that arrangement.”
According to him,” So, for now, Nigeria is lagging behind being an import dependent country, it would have been an opportunity for Nigeria to reverse that trend assuming our manufacturing sector has been viable as it is supposed to be. To us as freight forwarders, government needs to review the Foreign Direct Investment which is a tool that is used to assist developing countries. If you watch the trend in Nigeria here, the Foreign Direct Investment coming to Nigeria would have helped Nigeria to develop the manufacturing sector to produce goods for local production, then excess production should be exported. We have not discovered this and even the Foreign Direct Investment was to create jobs. So for now, that are needs to be opened up, let government find out what the Foreign Director Investors are doing vis-à-vis the manufacturing sector.
“Now, the manufacturers themselves have a lot of work to do because for now, that sector only contributes about 3 percent to our GDP currently. So, if you juxtapose that with the kind of subsidies that they have been enjoying from government, the waiver government keep giving them, reducing the rate of duty they pay on raw materials which doesn’t reflect at the end of production, it is a grey area that needs to be reviewed because all in all, the idea of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement is to industrialize Africa. So, in that wise, we should be looking at government reversing itself.”
He further suggested that those lands that were to be provided by the states in the 36 states of the federation for the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) should be converted for industrial development in every state of the federation instead of using them for RUGA.
“Let government convert those lands strategically to build industries in a very state. States like Abia that can thrive in production of bags, shoes, garments and so on, down to Nnewi and Ontisha, fabrication of spare parts and even vehicle assemblage should also be encouraged. Then, within the Lagos metropolis here, we have factories that are into production of general cargoes that should be encouraged, even in the far north, the extractive industries should also be encouraged to come into existence”, he added.
While describing the endorsement of the AfCFTA by President Buhari as a welcome development as well as exonerating those that advised him to sign the agreement of any mistake, the NAGAFF President expressed reservation in the level of infrastructural decay in the country which he said may be the only hindrance for Nigeria to reap bountifully from AfCFTA.
He continued,” It is a call to duty, not only that we need manpower development, technological development because without technology, we cannot go anywhere. For the country to actually get it right this time, it requires a lot of work. Like I mentioned, the logistics performance index in Nigeria has been so low that countries like Kenya has overtaken us. If you look at the maritime industry right now, our ports are no longer competitive. Most of the raw materials that will be required to support the manufacturing sector will eventually pass through the port. So, we need to get our ports competitive, cargo clearance must be fast tracked because some fast paced industries will require their goods to be delivered on time in order to meet up with customers’ demand because that must be done so that the factories will not be shut down as a result of lack of raw materials.
“So, the movement of these raw materials from the ports to the hinterland will need efficient transport infrastructure. So we need highways that will connect virtually all these industrial areas when established because they say transport is concomitant to development because when they establish a factory and there is no good road linkage that will ease off and reduce the constraint of space, it will not make much meaning.
“The ERGP that is meant to help to fast track economic development, this is the time we want to see the effect of the ERGP because if we keep paying lip service to some of these areas, it will be difficult for us to meet up with the agreement. So, a lot of work is needed and it is left for government, those areas the committee pointed out like the establishment of National Commission on Standardization, revamping of the energy sector, provision of National Single Window platform for port operation and acquisition of scanners for cargoes clearance needed to be touched.
“So, my submission is that it is not a matter of choice whether we should be part of the agreement or not, it is voluntarily compulsory that every country in Africa must play a part because the real idea is to industrialize Africa and if any country fails to play a part at this very stage, it is going to tell on its economy because at the end of the day, such a country is the one to regret it. So, government needs to do something very fast because all revolves around the management of the supply chain. We need to turn Nigeria into a logistics hub, a distribution centre rather than playing a passive role.”
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