Nigeria yet to reap benefits from AGOA Act since 2008
A deputy director in the Trade Department of the Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, Aliyu Abubakar has lamented that Nigeria was yet to benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) since it was signed into law in May 2008.
Abubakar, who made this known in an interview in Abuja yesterday said a draft strategy had been developed to ensure that the country benefits from the Act. According to him, AGOA is a unilateral trade preference programme that aims at increasing US trade and investment with sub-Sahara African countries.
“AGOA was signed into law in May 2008, under the US Trade and Investment Act and provides access to the US market for more than 6,400 products from sub-Saharan African countries.
“AGOA forum is an annual event alternating between sub-Saharan African countries and the US. The first phase of the Act lasted from October 2000 to September 2008. The US Congress in August 2015, further extended the period of the Act to 2025,’’ Abubakar said.
He stated that in order for a country to benefit, it must fulfil basic requirements such as a market-based economy that protects property right and adherence to rule of law, including political pluralism.
Other requirements, he said, include the elimination of barriers to US trade and investment, and elimination of economic policies aimed at reducing poverty as well as encouraging private enterprises.
He said the country must also have a system to combat corruption and bribery, protection of internationally recognised workers’ right and non-engagement in gross violation of international terrorism and activities that undermine US national security or foreign policy interest.
Abubakar said that as part of efforts to reinvigorate AGOA implementation process in Nigeria, the Ministry, after due consultations with relevant AGOA stakeholders, had identified focal products for Nigeria to maximise its benefits within the shortest time. He listed the challenges that hinder the realisation of the Act to include lack of sanitary and phyto-sanitary requirements, problem of labelling, packaging and quality.
Other challenges include lack of product specific standard, supply-side constraints such as inability to meet large volume of orders from the US and weak competitiveness as a result of weak infrastructure facilities and lack of finance. He said the country, in collaboration with the United Nations Commission for Africa (UNECA), had developed the national AGOA response strategy, adding that it had been validated by stakeholders.
“The draft document has been forwarded to the Minister and awaits approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC),’’ Abubakar said.
He added that the way forward would be to fast-track the Land Use Act to support agricultural activities and strategies to remove administrative and logistic constraints being faced by farmers and exporters.
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