The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other industry stakeholders have extolled the economic benefits accruable to the country from the recently rectified African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

AfCFTA is an initiative of the Africa Union with the main objective of creating a single continental market for goods and services, in addition to facilitating free movement of investment and people across the entire African continent.

Nigeria joined the list of African countries to sign the trade pact when President Muhammadu Buhari on July 7th, 2019,endorsed the AfCFTA Agreement at the AUSummit in Niamey, Niger.

Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman/ceo, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) speaking at a two-day workshop with the theme; “Improving Nigeria’s communication industry competitiveness for the AFCFTA initiative”, was organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in collaboration with the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiation (NOTN). stated that the AfCFTA Agreement will lead to about 60% boost in intra-African trade by 2022.

Danbatta who was represented by, Alhaji Muhammad Babajika, director of Licensing and Authorization, NCC explained that only 16% of international trade by African countries takes place between African countries, according a study by the African Development Bank in 2014.

He noted that the ongoing workshop is aimed at examining how to improve the competitiveness of the over $70 billion Nigerian Communications sector market for the Continental Free Trade Area.

He said, “The workshop is to draw the attention of industry stakeholders to the need to fully appreciate the business implications of the AfCFTA, promote a deep understanding of the AfCFTA Initiative by industry stakeholders, initiate and lead discussions on areas of comparative advantage for the…

“Nigerian telecoms stakeholders, encourage industry stakeholders on the need to seek and exploit opportunities that will emerge in the operational phase of the AfCFTA and to use the workshops as an avenue for generating feedback, identifying possible areas of interest for industry stakeholders and evolving a Roadmap for the future trajectory of the industry in the context of the Continental Free Trade Area.

“The workshop is a key element of the Governments’ institutional framework for driving Nigeria’s trade policy initiatives the Federal Government’s aspirations to advance Nigeria’s economic development through continuous encouragement of pro-trade, pro-business, pro-investment and pro-export measures are in sync with the mandate of the NCC to stimulate investment and economic activity by protecting the interest of the Government, investors and consumers within the Nigerian Communications ecosystem,” he said.

Earlier, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, chairman, board of Nigerian Communications Commission, said that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) arrangement will extend access of communications services to 1.2 billion people across the African continent.

He said that the agreement is a big deal for the sector hence stakeholders should tap into it.

According to Durojaiye, there is no limit to the achievement by innovative operators/investors in terms of business opportunities with a larger proportion of the population made up of young people, whose hunger for data and mobile services continues to grow.

He noted that in line with the Federal Government’s objectives, NCC is committed to ensuring that the sector continues to improve on its contribution to GDP and by extension the Nigerian economy.

“Through its direct contribution to the GDP and the indirect contribution to the performance of other sectors, the Telecommunication sector is indeed a facilitator of economic development.

“This sensitization workshop is to engage with stakeholders, with a view towards crafting achievable recommendations and solutions that will guarantee positive growth, development and prosperity for our industry, the Nigerian economy, and the African continent.

“Just the way we recognize the opportunities for investors in the African market, we also know that there are challenges not to say threats.

“Operators and investors within the Communications ecosystem must fully appreciate these dynamics, in order to ensure that they prepare adequately for them.

“At the end of the workshops, we expect to come out more informed about the AfCFTA Initiative, and better prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead.

“We believe that with good planning and implementation, Nigeria and the African continent will be better off with the Continental Free Trade Area arrangement.

“African countries who are signatory to the trade should adopt and evolve our own indigenous programme of development, he said.

Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor, Lagos State, on his part, said the AFCFTA initiative would facilitate free movement of investment and people across the African continent, adding that it would provide the opportunity for Africa to create the world’s largest free trade area.

The Governor, represented by the Hakeem Popoola Fahm, commissioner for Science and Technology, Lagos State, said the trade agreement marks a new dawn to Africa’s economic transformation, explaining that Nigeria’s economy stands to benefit with the creation of this single market.

He urged the Nigeria communication industry to leverage on the provisions of AFCFTA to the advantage of Nigeria’s telecom industry, saying it remains one of the major factors to fully drive the digital economic revolution in the country.

“It is a new hope for boosting Intra-Africa trade across African countries with a combined population of the people.

“The anticipated benefits will only remain a mirage if we fail to prepare adequately by repositioning the key sectors of our economy to be competitive and able to take optimum advantage of the opportunities presented by new market.

“To enhance the sectors competitiveness in the emerging single market, a lot of efforts must be put into improving the efficiency of service delivery,” he said.