The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), Seni Adio, SAN has expressed optimism that the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) would be successful signed in the nearest future. Seni who was recently inaugurated into the presidential committee for Impact and Readiness Assessment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), by President Muhammadu Buhari, spoke at the Africa Trade Forum 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria. Adio, who spoke exclusively to BusinessDay Law Editor, stated that he was confident that the impact and readiness assessment committee, whose report is due in nine weeks, would make a good case for the signing of the AfCFTA. He thus, urged legal practitioners to stay at the forefront of ongoing reforms, as the AFCFTA is expected to open a new vista of opportunities not just for practitioners in the area of trade law but for all lawyers.
Also speaking at the forum, Joy Kategewa, Africa Regional Office head, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, disclosed that for the AFCFTA to work, all stakeholders must give some serious thought to how Intra-Africa trade can positively affect Foreign Direct Investment. She said, “The sort of investment that will make the AfCFTA significant is one that gets us to build capacity and scale up Intra Africa trade. Policy must work with skill and at the same time with enterprise.” Hippolyte Fofack, chief economist and director, research and cooperation department, African Export Import (Afriexim) bank, spoke of the banks faith in the AfCFTA, noting that through it, the AU has given purpose to young Africans who aspire to greatness, as it deals with Africa’s biggest challenge – trade financing. “Afriexim Bank greatly believes in the AfCFTA. We believe that it is the most important thing happening in Africa. It is no longer theoretical or hypothetical. It is now real,” Fofack said.
He further disclosed that the Afriexim bank was now focused on working with young African entrepreneurs to develop bankable projects around the continent. Also dwelling on the challenges and gaps in trade financing across Africa, Ambassador Albert Muchanga, United Nations Commissioner for Trade spoke of ‘Agenda 2063’. According to him, Agenda 2063 is a ten-year deliverable plan that can be achieved successfully with the implementation of the AfCFTA. The 2018 Africa Trade Forum hosted by Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and coorganised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), The Rockefeller Foundation, and the African Union Commission (AUC), brought together key stakeholders from across the continent – political and governance spheres; private and public sector; entrepreneurs, philanthropists; academia, researchers, and development partners, to discuss the process for realizing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The AfCFTA was signed in March 2018 by 44 African countries and, if ratified, will become one of the world’s largest trading blocs. It is also the biggest trade agreement signed since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established, bringing together 1.3 billion people with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $2 trillion in a single market. The agreement aims to provide improved competition and lower business costs. BusinessDay recalls that the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), Seni Adio, SAN alongside other critical stakeholders, were on Monday October 22, 2018 inaugurated into the Presidential Committee for Impact and Readiness Assessment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The committee charged with the responsibility of identifying short, medium and long-term measures to prepare Nigerian businesses for the take-off of the AfCFTA trading bloc; review the trade remedy options to safeguard the Nigerian economy from predatory and other unfair trade practices, is expected to submit its reports in 12 weeks. The NBA-SBL since its annual business law conference in June 2018, where it provided a platform for stakeholder consultation on the endorsement of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), has continued to engage with the Nigeria Office for Trade Negotiations and other relevant stakeholder towards the signing and implementation of the AfCFTA.
The annual business law conference resolved that bar associations and large law firms in Africa with the support of their governments, must position the legal profession to maximize the benefits of free trade by seizing the initiative to reorganize the profession and guide the inevitable disruption to the profession that will be enabled by the AfCFTA, artificial intelligence and local competition by global law firms. It was also agreed that the Section on Business Law should deepen the understanding of trade law within Nigeria by establishing a specialist Trade Law Committee within its organisation and facilitate training seminars on international trade law and negotiations for public and private sector lawyers.
Theodora Kio-Lawson
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