TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) this weekend.

The presidency announced this via Twitter on Wednesday.

According to the tweet, Buhari will sign the agreement at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union scheduled to hold from July 4 to July 8 in Niamey, Niger Republic.

His resolve to sign the treaty comes after “extensive domestic consultations”.

Nigeria will sign the #AfCFTA Agreement at the upcoming Extraordinary Summit of the African Union in Niamey, Niger.

Recall that the Pres. Cttee on the Impact & Readiness Assessment of the Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA submitted its Report to Pres @MBuhari Thur June 27, 2019.

— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) July 2, 2019

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In June, the presidential committee on impact and readiness assessment on AfCFTA had submitted its report to the president, recommending that Nigeria sign the treaty.

Buhari had said that Nigeria could not afford to rush into signing the agreement as it has both negative and positive effects on the economy..

AfCFTA is a trade agreement between 49 African Union member states with the goal of creating a single market followed by free movement and a single-currency union.

It was signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21 March 2018. Ratification by 22 countries is required for the agreement to enter into force and the African Continental Free Trade Area to become effective.

Nigeria’s agreement to the deal comes three days after members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to launch ECO, proposed single currency in the region.

The heads of the 15-member countries reached this decision at the 55th ordinary session of ECOWAS in Abuja.