AfCFTA: Morocco Struggling to Join ECOWAS, Dump Cargoes in Nigerian Markets, ITAS Warns

By DAPO OLAWUNI

An import and export solution company; International Trade Advisory Services Limited (ITAS) has warned that smaller countries in African Region are getting set to dump their manufactured goods into Nigeria, taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)

At a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, Principal Consultant and Chief Executive Officer of ITAS, Mr Okey Ibeke said Morocco, a highly industrialized North African country is currently struggling to become a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in order to pave way for it’s goods into Nigeria duty free.

He said that Nigeria signed the AfCFTA agreement in error, adding that when the agreement comes into implementation, Nigeria would be highly disadvantaged.

“When Buhari refused to signed the AfCFTA, I supported him because we are disadvantaged totally, manufacturers in Nigeria buy diesel to manufacture goods, while in neighboring countries, they have stable power supply and good roads, all you need to do is build your factory and start manufacturing.

“The world is highly competitive today, is Nigeria manufacturing to send to these countries? No. But they are manufacturing to send to Nigeria, so we are totally disadvantaged.

“If AfCFTA comes into operations, Nigeria would be a dumping ground because we cannot compete.

“When Nigeria signed AfCFTA, Morocco was struggling to be members of ECOWAS, we did not bother ourselves why they are struggling to join ECOWAS.

“Morocco is a highly industrialized nation and Nigeria is the market, they are planning how to dump goods in Nigerian market duty free.
All the sardines and canned fishes that we eat in Nigeria comes from Morocco” he said

Okey Ibeke, a media mogul and expert in import-export solutions, however said that Nigeria would still have the opportunity to ask for a review of AfCFTA or to pull out of the agreement totally, after realizing that it is not favourable to the nation.

According to him, former President of United States of America, Mr Donald Trump had done same by removing the USA from three major trade protocols and agreements that are deemed not favourable.

“Nigeria can pull out from AfCFTA, Trump, former US President pulled out from various agreements, we can pull out or ask for a review, but the issue is that the rest of the continent cannot wait for us.

“Once the operation of AfCFTA commences, there is a level it would get to, by the time Nigeria becomes a dumping ground and it dawned on the government that we have goofed, we can have a president that would rise up and pull the country out. Donald Trump did it in three trade protocols”

Speaking on the workings of the AfCFTA agreement, Mr Ibeke noted that the key function is the rule of origin of cargoes.

“If a goods is claimed to be manufactured in Benin Republic, what is the percentage of raw materials sourced from Benin Republic to qualify that goods as made in Benin Republic? There are some percentage of inputs that must come from that country for the goods to come to Nigeria duty free” he said

The ITAS Chief Executive Officer called on Importers, exporters, manufacturers and freight forwarders to take advantage of the services provided by the company to take advantage of the AfCFTA agreement and other international trade protocols.

“We help our manufacturers who want to key into the regional scheme and how to navigate the technical processes for their goods to reach the subregions” he stated