The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area founded in 2018, with trade commencing as of 1 January 2021. It was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. The free-trade area is the largest in the world in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization. Accra, Ghana serves as the Secretariat of AfCFTA and was commissioned and handed over to the AU by the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo on August 17, 2020 in Accra.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) initially approved the signing of the AfCFTA Agreement on March 14 2021, following the conclusion of negotiations for Stage 1 of the Agreement. However, this approval was suspended due to the need to critically evaluate the Agreement, with respect to Nigeria’s national interest and determine the implications for the economy. Following this evaluation, the Federal Government approved the ratification of the Agreement on November 4, 2020, and deposited the instrument of ratification on December 15, 2020, becoming the 34th State Party to ratify the treaty.
The Central Bank of Nigeria is a vital stakeholder in the AfCFTA Agreement; therefore, the Bank has been involved in the AfCFTA Agreement right from inception.
•CBN is currently an active member of four Workstreams of the NAC-AfCFTA and participates in all workshops and seminars organized by the Committee. A brief overview of the Workstreams is given below.
The Export Market Development Workstream is a platform for policy makers and exporters to deliberate on issues pertaining to the export market and proffer solutions to the challenges faced by exporters.
Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) Elimination Workstream deals with all NTBs that restrict or increase the cost of importation and/or exportation of goods and services.
The Manufacturing Workstream has the mandate of ensuring that Nigeria’s domestic manufacturers have the requirements to participate in the AfCFTA Agreement. The CBN has been involved in enhancing the growth of the manufacturing sector through such initiatives as the Anchor Borrowers Programme, Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme, Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, and Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund, among others. • The Bank has financed the large-scale production and processing of cassava, rice, maize, sesame seed and livestock among others and the expansion of these activities to the level of exports. o A notable success story is Psaltry International Ltd, which started as a small-scale cassava farmer, but has expanded to the level of producing and processing for export. Psaltry has now built the first cassava-based sorbitol factory in Africa and the second in the world.
The Financial Services and Investment Mobilization Workstream was created as a forum for financial sector players to discuss issues relating to the implementation of the Agreement. The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria was designated as the Champion of the sector, and the Head of the Financial Services and Investment Mobilization Workstream, with the role of positioning the sector to gain a substantial share of the continental market. On December 16 and 17 2020, the Workstream organized a general stakeholder sensitization workshop themed: “Leveraging on Nigeria’s Financial Sector to Maximize the Gains of AfCFTA”. The workshop featured presentations from various organizations and highlighted their readiness for the Agreement and challenges, as well as recommendations to further improve the sector. • The workshop was anchored by the CBN, and the facilitators included Access Bank Plc, FMDQ, NSE, NIPC, UBA Plc, Stanbic IBTC, NAICOM, Ministry of Finance, KPMG, Funds and Electronic Transfer Solutions (FETS) ltd, and the Bankers Committee.
The Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr. Kingsley Obiora approved the formation of an internal Committee on AfCFTA to spearhead the Bank’s involvement. Consequently, the Director, Monetary Policy Department (MPD), Dr. Hassan Mahmud constituted the Committee with representatives drawn from relevant Departments of the Bank. The CBN Implementation Committee has a broad objective of ensuring that the Bank’s stakeholders are well equipped to participate competitively in the continental market. • Thus, the Committee liaises with the NAC-AfCFTA, and stakeholders of the Bank, including Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Payments System Service Providers, Other Financial Institutions and recipients of the CBN Development Finance Interventions on issues pertaining to the roles of specific financial institutions in the Agreement.
| Facts : 1/1/1965 |
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| Central Bank of Nigeria, Ibadan Branch:In the year 1965, The Central Bank of Nigeria,Ibadan Branch was opened for business.It was the third Central Bank office that was established and it brought to 4, the number of Central Bank offices in Nigeria at that time. |
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