By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which officially commenced on January 1, 2021, will help Nigeria achieve its diversification plan faster.
This was the view of the Chief Economist for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank, Ms Razia Khan, at a virtual conference hosted last month by the financial institution.
The lender held the event for clients and stakeholders to discuss the implications of a single continental market for Nigerian businesses and to re-reinforce its brand promise and commitment to driving commerce and prosperity across Africa which remains a strategic region for the bank for trade and investments priorities.
“AfCFTA presents an opportunity for the Nigerian economy to move away from oil dependency and put in place meaningful diversification which will impact policies as well as the FX regime.
“The Nigerian economy’s advantage is its scale, as it makes development more rapid than other African counterparts. The key to leveraging this is finding the right synergies,” Ms Khan submitted.
AfCFTA is an initiative of the African Union. It is expected to facilitate the creation of a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of people and investment capital, thus deepening economic integration of member countries and expanding intra-African trade across the continent.
Experts believe that the full implementation of the agreement will provide growth opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses, boost industrialisation, increase investment opportunities and technology transfers.
The CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Mr Lamin Manjang, totally agrees with this and added that the “full implementation of AfCFTA could provide a lever to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and help move millions out of poverty by 2025.”
Mr Manjang noted that his bank “combines its local knowledge and track record in 15 African markets with a global network spanning more than 60 countries and continuous investment in products and services, making us the ideal partner for clients.”
On the part of Ms Ibiyemi Okuneye, the Head of Transaction Banking at Standard Chartered Bank, “The successful implementation of the agreement will require collective partnerships and co-operation between the public and private sector as AfCFTA is not just about moving goods and services, but about moving the entire continent forward for industrialisation and economic growth.”
