Six months after trading officially commenced under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Nigeria and some other countries continue to lag behind, having stalled the process to domesticate trade protocols in line with the implementation of the new trade regime. AfCFTA took off on January 1, 2021, but some nations are yet to fashion out the rules of origin, which is the major aspect of the trade framework. He wondered why a country that is a signatory to the protocol could expel businesses from other member countries without due compliance with the embedded protocol. Osunkeye also expressed worries about the dispute settlement protocol as disagreements between private businesses among member countries are seen as a disagreement between state parties. He stressed that Nigerian businesses under AfCFTA, should identify and take account of winners and losers in specific sectors to see where there are political attractions and where blockages may lie in implementing national AfCFTA strategies.

Source: The Guardian July 01, 2021 04:41 UTC