TheCable

The federal executive council (FEC) has ratified the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement, 16 months after President Muhammadu Buhari signed to indicate Nigeria’s interest.

Niyi Adebayo, the minister of industry, trade, and investment, announced the development after the FEC meeting on Wednesday.

“The FEC just approved the AFCFTA ratification. #AfCFTA creates a single continental market for goods and services, free movement of business persons and investments, expands intra-African trade & aims to enhance competitiveness for our industries and #MSMEs,” he tweeted.

Breaking News: The FEC just approved the AFCFTA ratification. #AfCFTA creates a single continental market for goods and services, free movement of business persons and investments, expands intra-African trade & aims to enhance competitiveness for our industries and #MSMEs pic.twitter.com/VbEDo3yI6c

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— Otunba Niyi Adebayo (@NiyiAdebayo_) November 11, 2020

There is a December 5, 2020, deadline for ratification as the AfCFTA agreement comes into effect on January 1, 2021.

Implementation had initially been scheduled for July 1, 2020.

However, Wamkele Mene, the AfCFTA secretary-general, said it had to be postponed due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

The president signed it at the 12th extraordinary session of the assembly of the union on AfCFTA and the first mid-year coordination meeting of the African Union (AU) and the regional economic communities (RECs) that held in Niamey, Niger Republic in July 2019.

The free-trade zone would be the largest in the world since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.