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By Peter Egwuatu
John Isemede, former Director General of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), has said that for Nigeria to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area ( AfCFTA) it must add value to its agricultural products before export.
He noted that Nigeria is ripe to process raw/crude in finished products with value addition to run the chain with the rest of the world.
In an interview with Financial Vanguard Isemede stated: “For us to achieve this we must add value to our raw materials, remove all the restrictions, all the roadblocks, provides incentives and support to manufacturers.
“Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) instead of assisting and looking for markets are fighting, duplicating issues and often on revenue as well as selling certificates that often end in our ports as rejections galore.”
While commenting on the 2022 Budget , he said: “When will Nigeria hit the ground running and think less of loans, aid from donors and support from those who are out for just one purpose of exploitation and subjugation?
“There is nowhere our national export strategic plans/ target to exporters appeared in the 2022 budget, but we can see loans, debt servicing; etc and none on national export inflows or what to expect from the latest AfCFTA gains as envisaged at the signing ceremony.”