President Muhammadu Buhari will on Saturday depart Abuja for Niamey, Niger Republic to attend the African Union Summit, scheduled to hold on July 7.
A statement issued on Friday afternoon by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, indicated that the president would participate in the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union on African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA.
The statement added that the president would also participate in the First Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the AU and the Regional Economic Communities in Niamey.
“The Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union is expected to launch the operational instruments of the Agreement establishing AfCFTA.
“The instruments include: AfCFTA Rules of Origin, Tariff Concession Portals, Portal on Monitoring and Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers, Digital Payments and Clearing Systems and African Trade and Observatory Dashboard.’’
Adesina further revealed that Buhari would sign the AfCFTA Agreement on the margins of the AU meeting in Niamey.
While formally accepting the report on June 27, President Buhari said, “For AfCFTA to succeed, we must develop policies that promote African production, among other benefits.
“Africa, therefore, needs not only a trade policy but also a continental manufacturing agenda. Our vision for intra-African trade is for the free movement of ‘made in Africa goods.’ That is, goods and services made locally with dominant African content in terms of raw materials and value addition.”
