Business
NEPC Makes Case For SMEs To Benefit From AFCFTA
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said micro, small and medium enterprises in the country need to be empowered to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
The Regional Coordinator, South-West, NEPC, Samuel Oyeyipo, said this at a workshop organised for MSMEs by the council’s legal unit in Lagos, in collaboration with the Export Expansion Facility Programme.
The workshop was focused on the role of AfCFTA in the growth and development of intra-African trade, laws and treaties.
Oyeyipo, who described the MSME sector as the largest in the economy in terms of trade, distribution and, to some extent, production, said, “There is a need to let them know what it takes to participate in the AfCFTA.”
He said, “So, we organised this workshop so they can know what they need to do in terms of product quality, packaging and certification.
“We have MSMEs in other African countries; so, we cannot be left behind, and we have to equip our MSMEs with the knowledge required for them to also upgrade their businesses and skills to be able to participate in the AfCFTA”.
The Head of Legal, NEPC, Julie Onmoke, said when the AfCFTA was introduced, the council had believed that “Nigerians would key into it more than what we are seeing”.
She said, “This workshop has been specially packaged to talk to our exporters on how to access the market in order to maximise the benefits and opportunities presented by the AfCFTA by increasing the volume and value of exports from Nigeria.
“Recently, the NEPC gave grants to deserving exporters for them to invest in their businesses in order to increase their production capacity. And when that is done, we expect that there should be more products, which would access more markets”.
A professor of International Economic Relations at the Covenant University, Ota, Jonathan Aremu, said in his presentation at the event that the liberalisation of trade, like the current AfCFTA, would definitely impact MSMEs differently because of their economic circumstances in the Nigerian economy.
He said, “Hence, AfCFTA will not achieve its intended goals if it is not designed and implemented with the adequate consideration of those MSMEs’ situations.
“Therefore, developing an MSMEs-sensitive approach into AfCFTA is necessary, so as to enhance the positive outcomes for them in the implementation of the continental economic integration.”
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
