Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described as “criminal” the rejection of a free trade agreement for African countries, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
African leaders gathered in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, to sign the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to create a unified market for about 1.2 billion people across the continent.
Forty-four African countries signed the deal, which has been described as the largest free trade agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.
It was aimed at boosting trade amongst countries with a combined gross domestic product of $3.4 trillion by eliminating borders and tariffs on goods and services within the continent.
The deal was conceived in 2012 and negotiations formally opened in 2015.
Nigeria was one of the key negotiators in drafting the agreement, and the Federal Executive Council approved the AfCFTA framework on March 14, with Okechukwu Enelamah, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, expressing Nigeria’s enthusiasm about the deal ahead of this week’s Kigali meeting.
But Nigeria suddenly pulled out of the agreement on March 18 when the administration announced that the president had cancelled his earlier announced trip to Kigali. The cancellation came after an advance presidential team had already departed Nigeria for the summit.
The Buhari administration said it withheld signing the deal to allow for broader consultation amidst an outcry from trade unions that Nigeria would not benefit much from the deal.
The unions, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), argued that the deal would open the border for people from poorer African countries to move to Nigeria, amongst other concerns.
“We will not agree to anything that will undermine local manufacturers and entrepreneurs, or that may lead to Nigeria becoming a dumping ground for finished goods,” the Presidency said on Twitter following the cancellation.
Obasanjo, a longtime advocate of a more united Africa, was at the meeting. He expressed his frustration at Nigeria and other countries’ failure to take part.
“This is a process that has taken 55 years,” Obasanjo told Premium Times Thursday night. “The African integration that our founding fathers fought for.”
He decried Nigeria’s failure to be amongst the 44 countries that approved the deal, saying he had long advised all African countries to participate.
“Nigeria was a key negotiator in this deal,” Mr. Obasanjo said. “When you have a thing that is in the best interest of the people and you fail to do it, it is a crime.”
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