Afreximbank sees future of manufacturing sector under AfCFTA

The President of the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank), Prof. Benedict Oramah, has said that Nigerian manufacturing sector required investment friendly policies as well as address structural challenges that held the sector down for it to thrive under the competitive AfCFTA.
Oramah said the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) has the possibility to spur industrialisation in Africa and Nigeria in particular,
He said: “Despite the challenges of the past, the future of manufacturing in Nigeria looks bright.’’
The coming into force of the AfCFTA , he said opens the wider African market for Nigerian manufacturer.
The preferences that AfCFTA offers can make Nigerian manufactured goods more competitive in many African markets and can also make it possible for integration into regional and global supply chains.
“The rising middle class in Nigeria and Africa and the rapid urbanisation will expand demand for manufactured goods. It is the manufacturing industry that will supply these items.
“Related to the foregoing is the gradual exit of China from labour intensive light manufacturing. As China shifts to more capital-intensive manufacturing due to rising labour costs, those goods have to be supplied by somebody. Nigeria, and indeed the entire African continent will have themselves to blame if this projected supply gap is filled from outside the continent.”
The President of MAN, Mr. Mansur Ahmed, in a recent interview with the ARISE NEWS TV, a sister organization of THISDAY, agreed with Oramah that AfCFTA offered Nigeria’s manufacturing sector a chance to thrive.
Ahmed hinged this hope on backward integration and value chain addition that would link the SMEs to the big manufacturing concerns in the continent and enable Nigerian manufacturers to use local inputs to improve our cost structure and competitiveness. This will benefit both the SMEs and the larger manufacturers.
He said: “The AfCFTA will build our capacity to manufacture and change the narrative of African economy and give Africa a stronger voice and positioning in the global economy as we go on.
“I am confident that there will be a tremendous opportunities for growth and development for each and every one if the countries that signed this agreement are willing to come together to make it a success. But this cannot come without challenges.”
 
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