Still on controversial IfCTA

The Federal Government has again expressed reservations over the signing of the African Continental Trade Agreement, AfCTA, after the promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari that he would soon sign the agreement.

Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo at the recent Quarterly Presidential Business Forum in Abuja, though agreed that there were some advantages Nigeria stands to gain from the agreement, but quickly emphasised the need for Nigeria to ensure it got the best possible terms in trade and commerce.

“With respect to the AfCTA, there are clearly huge advantages for us no question about it at all. The rest of Africa see the enormous advantages of Nigeria’s participation, everybody is waiting for us naturally and that is because they see a huge market, there are advantages of our being there.  But we must ensure to get the best possible terms for Nigerian trade and commerce.

“Our experiences with dumping and other injurious practices make it obvious to us that our market could be a real target, our local manufacturing could become unprofitable, our agricultural advantage could be reversed. Consequently, we have embarked on an extensive consultations with trade groups, manufacturers and organized labour  in all the six geo-political zones to get a clear sense of concerns as we navigate the process of   signing the treaty. I think the general resolve favours engagement but the concerns remain around improving the domestic environment for greater competitiveness, concerns of power supply and investment in infrastructure.”

It’s no news that the AfCTA issue has sparked serious debate in the country for sometime with different interests expressing different emotions towards it, but a good news about the whole issue lies in the decision of the federal government to depart from the usual executive arrogance often displayed by past governments by sampling opinions.

By not rushing to sign the IfCTA agreement, this government would have saved itself and Nigeria a lot of embarrassment that might follow if at the end, the much talk about advantages the country is being told await it becomes disadvantageous to it like so many past agreements.

In his defense on why government needed to tread with caution on the IfCTA agreement, the second citizen accurately mentioned the need to ensure that the Nigerian market does not become the target for these countries and individuals mounting pressure for it to be signed.

This has greatly played out in many agreements the previous governments had rushed to sign with countries which are largely responsible for the challenges rocking the country’s aviation sector for example.

Top on the list of these unfavourable agreements in the aviation sector for example, included the over 80 Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) that were signed on behalf of Nigeria without due consultations which have ended up becoming a bad deal at the expense of the country.

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While many airlines from these countries have made Nigerian aviation market their strategic market in view of the huge capita flight they repatriate to their home countries, reverse has been the case with the domestic airlines that are going down in large numbers with little or no care from government.

While there is nothing wrong with signing agreements as no country can be an island on its own, what is wrong is the failure of the Nigerian government to put its own house in order before committing itself to such deals.

Some Nigeria’s domestic airlines had and still have sour stories to tell of how they were frustrated by many of these African countries against flying to their airspace under the guise of protecting their own carriers while ironically, airlines from these hostile African countries receive red carpet treatment in the hand of Nigerian government whose own airlines they gang up against.

As good as IfCTA is, being one of the flagship projects of the African Union Agenda 2063 aimed at creating a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments and one currency, while other smaller African countries have already weighed the pros and cons of what they stand to gain, it is not certain that Nigeria has done same

It is therefore, pertinent to advise against putting pressure on the government to sign this agreement in a hurry without looking at the subsequent effect on the Nigeria’s market. Rushing to sign this would have given other African countries and even some foreign nations undue advantage into the Nigerian market including its aviation market. Let Nigeria first put its house in order before committing itself as failure to do this will amount to selling one’s birthright so cheaply.