E-commerce, according to stakeholders, has the potential to expand the $3.4 trillion African Continental Free Trade Area market.
The Punch reported that they made these remarks on Wednesday at a workshop in Lagos that looked at how Nigeria may benefit from the free trade initiative.
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized the session with the title “Operationalising the AfCFTA Agreement for Nigerian Businesses through E-Commerce Channel”.
The principal trade promotion officer at the Nigerian Export Promotion Council’s Lagos State branch, Emmanuel Okle, claimed that e-commerce gave Nigerian companies a chance to export to other African nations via the AfCFTA framework.
He claimed that companies should make sure their items meet export requirements both domestically and internationally to prevent having their exports rejected.
The goal of the Guided Trade Initiative, according to the Coordinator of Policies, Regulations and Laws Workstream, AfCFTA, Fatima Bello, is to promote and facilitate trade.
“There are prerequisites that a State Party must meet in order to take part in the GTI,” she continued.
“It has received a list of eight needs from the AfCFTA Secretariat in Ghana, which it is completing. It is currently working to complete the final criterion that is still unfinished.”
The AfCFTA agreement connects over 1.3 billion people across 55 countries, with a total Gross Domestic Product estimated at US$3.4 trillion, and has the potential to help 30 million people escape severe poverty, according to LCCI President, Michael Olawale-Cole in his welcome speech.
He continued by saying that implementing important policy reforms and trade facilitation measures, notably in the area of e-commerce, will be necessary to realize the full potential of the AfCFTA.
E-commerce is growing quickly in Africa, he said, providing a significant chance to access underserved regional, continental, and global markets, as well as to generate income and raise living standards.
