Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has advised Nigeria to leverage on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement to create jobs, increase productivity and boost the nation\u2019s economy.
Okowa made the call when the National Action Committee on AFCFTA visited him in Asaba, Delta.
According to him, Nigeria can explore its huge population to stimulate increased productivity to help in creating more jobs and engender a safe society.
\u201cBeing part of AFCFTA is in the best interest of the country and it is imperative that we use things produced by us for the benefit of the society,\u2019\u2019 Okowa said.
While commending the committee\u2019s initiative in visiting states to sensitise the public to understand the benefits of the agreement, Okowa harped on the need to domesticate the agreement in states.
\u201cIt is a good start we are taking, having a larger market and production of quality goods that penetrate the market is key.
\u201cMaking greater use of what we produce will be beneficial to us so that we don\u2019t use the process of trade and exporting goods in the wrong form.
He said: \u201cthere is a lot of setbacks in the oil industry over the years because we were satisfied with the way crude is, instead of developing it to where it will be useful to us.
\u201cIt is also important to know the quality of goods that go into the African market.
The governor said that the cost of production of power was an issue that must be addressed, noting that improving the availability of power would help those in business to sustain it because lots of businesses would not be sustained, due to this challenge.
Earlier, the Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Mr Adeniyi Adebayo, said that the AfCFTA agreement sought to create a single market for made in Africa goods and services…<\/p>\n\n\n\n