#NBASBL2018#: It Is The Business Of Lawyers To See That Afcfta Agreement Is Signed —Prof. Bola A. Akinterinwa

For some months now, Nigeria has refused to sign up to the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The official reason given for not signing was to “allow for further consultations”. The basic idea of the AfCFTA is to facilitate trade within Africa by agreeing to remove tariffs within Africa for a large variety of goods. It measures to remove non-tariff barriers, to promote cooperation between customs authorities on standards, regulations, and facilitation to make it easier for goods to flow across Africa. It includes dispute resolution mechanisms, charters on the free movement of people, mutual recognition of standards, licensing, and certifications, and so on. All in all, it is an agreement to make trade easier within Africa. Speaking on Thursday, 27th June, at the 2018 Annual conference of NBA-Section On Business law, held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja with the theme “ BRING DOWN THE BARRIERS THE LAW AS A VEHICLE FOR INTRA-AFRICA TRADE,” some speakers spoke on what AfCFTA is and why we should or should not sign up to it. Amb. Chinedu Osakwe, Director General and Chief Negotiator, Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) described AfCFTA as an institution for intra-Africa trade which establishes a balance of rights and obligations enforceable under the dispute settlement mechanism resilient to approachable under the rules and procedures for disputes settlements. The Nigerian Government and South Africa which are economic giants are still consulting stakeholders before signing However, the DG NOTN has said that consultation is going on with the stakeholders. “A large block of nation-states have signed a document entitled, “Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area” (AfCFTA) in Kigali, Rwanda on 20-21 March 2018. The first stage of the negation, its job online, trade & services, rules & procedures, settlement of disputes. There will be a second stage which will continue in 2018 will cover Competition Policy, Investment, and Intellectual Property Rights. A draft shall be submitted for the January 2020 AU Assembly. It has been unanimously welcomed by all Nigerians that we should sensitize, consult and give a plan on how to move rapidly on long-standing systematic issues associated with competitiveness”, he said. Most of the speakers seem to blame lawyers for not having the agreement signed. Prof. Bola A. Akinterinwa while giving his speech said that Nigeria should sign the agreement to prevent smuggling from other neighboring countries which is what the government is avoiding. However, he advised that before AfCFTA agreement is signed the national interest must be protected. He blamed Nigerian lawyers for the country’s delay or failure for signing the agreement. According to him, lawyers should be held responsible for Nigeria not been able to sign the agreement because in other countries, their lawyers have taken pro-active involvement to see that the agreement is signed. Prof Pat.Utomi affirmed with the statement of Prof. Bola A. Akinterinwa that it is the business of lawyers to see that the agreement is signed since the document to be signed is a legal document. According to Babajide Sodipo who was a panelist, AfCFTA agreement is a legal document which creates an advantage for lawyers because they are the only people that can step up to dilute issues raised on a free trade agreement and that signing of the agreement will be for the interest of the country and will help to boost the economy of the nation. Speaking further, he said that Nigeria signing the AfCFTA agreement will be of great benefit to traders and service providers. “Manufacturing contributes less than 10% to our GDP but trade and services contributes much more than what manufacturing does. “We know that overall trade is good, but sometimes, the benefits are not evenly distributed. For instance, if you have a manufacturing sector that exists solely on the back of government protection from international competition, and as a result has incorporated relatively higher cost and less efficient techniques, then the trade will not be good for those sectors. ”The competition from freer trade will wipe out those sectors. If that sounds like the Nigerian manufacturing sector, then you may not be too wrong. Although in truth, it is a small but vocal fraction of Nigerian industry. The ones who are well connected and who use their political influence to block competition, sell sometimes subpar products, and make mega profits, will have to become competitive or die. They stand to lose from Nigeria joining the AfCFTA. Although I’m sure most Nigerians who will get access to cheaper and maybe better quality products won’t be complaining,’ he said. He also pointed out the reasons Nigeria must sign the agreement as well as the negative impact on the country if they fail to sign it. “If Nigeria fails to sign the agreement, the world will not crumble, the agreement will come into force, the agreement will be rectified by 22 other countries apart from Nigeria and if it comes into force, it will work. “It will become progressively and much more difficult for the country to catch up. There will be a completely blown apart strategy in export diversification and industrialization. “The competitive advantage that Nigeria has had as the largest market is completely eroded if it fails to sign this agreement,” he said.]]>