LAGOS, (The Southern African Times) – Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday called for sensitisation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) so that they can benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
In a two-day roundtable dialogue on the potential impact of AfCFTA agreement in Abuja, the vice president said that an increased business awareness of the agreement is encouraged and knowledge gaps must be filled.
A recent report based on surveys of 1,800 MSMEs in Nigeria showed that the majority of them, especially the small businesses, were unaware of the existence of the trade agreement, he said.
“This is a significant discovery for the country since their lack of expertise will impede them from effectively implementing the deal,” he said, adding “the essential conclusion is that more has to be done to guarantee that our MSMEs are sufficiently prepared in the post-integration era.”
Osinbajo said AfCFTA had the capacity to boost intra-African trade and was expected to deliver an integrated continental market consisting of 1.27 billion consumers with an aggregate gross domestic product of 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars.
