THE Minister of Industry, Trade and
Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has explained why Nigeria did not sign the
trade liberalisation agreement being pushed forward by the European Union under
the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with ECOWAS, saying the major
consideration for the Federal Government is the overall well-being of the
Nigerian economy, reports DigitalSENSE Business News.
Speaking recently in honour of the visiting
Director-General, United Nations Industrial Development Organsation, Mr. Li
Yong, Aganga, whose ministry played a major role in the EPA negotiations, said
certain provisions of the agreement, which Nigeria was expected to sign at the
ECOWAS Heads of States meeting in Yamoussoukro, Cote D’Ivoire, but were not in
the overall best interest of the nation’s economy.
Under the EPA, the European Union will immediately
offer the 15-member ECOWAS and non-member state Mauritania full access to its
markets.
In return, ECOWAS is expected to gradually open up 75
per cent of its markets, with its 300 million consumers, to Europe over a
20-year period.
Technical negotiations wrapped up last month with the
European Union offering a 6.5 billion euro (about $8.94 billion) package over
the next five years to help ECOWAS cushion the effects and costs of integrating
into the global economy.
ECOWAS includes Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia,
Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Niger and Togo.
Aganga said, “The EPA agreement is not ready for
endorsement by the Heads of State and Government. During the meeting last week,
Nigeria raised 10 objections to what was presented to us and the Summit of
Heads of State ratified it.
“Consequently, a committee from Nigeria, Cote D’Ivoire
, Ghana and Senegal looked at the issues raised by member states, particularly
Nigeria, and came up with a proposal. When we went into the meeting, the whole
idea was to endorse it, but of course, we had various reservations concerning
the agreement based on our model and the feedback we got from our private
sector.”
He added, “One major reservation was that the way the
agreement was done, which of course they expected us to sign, would not be in
the overall interest of the Nigerian economy over the long term. For instance,
in the area of market access, the EU wants us to open our market by 75 per cent
over a 20-year period.
“This appears harmless because over the first five
years, there will be no major impact because they will open all their doors for
us to export to Europe. However, the problem here is that, currently, we are
not exporting much to Europe and so the benefit will not be significant.”
The minister explained that, given Nigeria’s current
condition as an import-dependent economy, it would be counter-productive to
completely open its doors for imports without first of all developing its
industrial sector to compete globally, especially in those sectors where the
country has comparative and competitive advantage as provided in the Nigeria
Industrial Revolution Plan recently launched by President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said, “Another major point we raised was that those
items that were in Category D, and excluded in the 25 per cent, should include
those areas and sectors that we want to develop in line with the Nigerian
Industrial Revolution Plan. Some of those areas are already under Category C
and D, meaning that they are the sectors that the EU wants us to liberalise
imports. If we do that, it will have a very negative impact on the NIRP.
“Nigeria is the biggest country in the ECOWAS and we
are already producing some of those goods that they want us to liberalise their
importation. Also, what this means is that, not now, but from 2025-2026, based
on the items that have been included and excluded, there will be significant
loss of revenue to the government. There will be loss of jobs, investment and
loss of even the ECOWAS market.”
Aganga, however, said it was important to remain as
one unit in the ECOWAS region, saying that “even if they import those items
into our neighbouring countries, they will end up in Nigeria and this will have
negative impact on the Nigerian economy. So, it is important for us to work
together as ECOWAS members and not to allow EPA to divide us.”
Speaking during the event, the Director-General, UNIDO, Mr. Li
Yong, pledged UNIDO’s unflinching support towards the growth and development of
Nigeria’s industrial sector in line with the organisation’s Inclusive and
Sustainable Industrial Development Programme.
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