Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is on a short visit to Arusha, Tanzania.
Osinbajo is expected to be received by his Tanzanian counterpart, Dr Philip Mpango.
In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo, while in Arusha, would visit the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR), an African Union agency in Arusha, among other engagements before he returns to Abuja on Monday.
The vice president in a message delivered at a ‘Roundtable on Industrialisation in Africa themed “Positioning African Industries for Economic Transformation and Continental Free Trade”, organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) to celebrate its Golden Jubilee, has put cross-border informal trade on the continent at $93 billion, urging authorities to take the right actions which include the protection of local industries and improving value chain to actualise them.
He declared that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers limitless opportunities for the industrialisation of Africa.
According to the vice president, ‘for certain, the AfCFTA is indispensable if industrial development is to take off in Africa because it offers wider markets and economies of scale which are essential for manufacturing to be competitive.
‘We must take policy actions to create an environment in which businesses can thrive. To start with, we must adopt the right type of macroeconomic and industrial policies.
‘It is important for African governments to provide a stable macroeconomic environment which avoids and smoothens out volatility in prices, sharp deteriorations in the current account and budget deficits and of course, rapid accumulation in debt burdens.’
Speaking on actions that will boost manufacturing, Osinbajo said ‘on the industrial side, policies like tariffs, quotas, subsidies and non-tariff barriers which protect our infant industries so that they can create jobs and enable learning are vital.’
He added that ‘well-negotiated rules of origin are important in the context of the free trade agreements as they are key to preventing trans-shipment and the deflection of trade. Without them, firms from non-state parties could set up simple labelling operations in one member state with a view to shipping already finished products to another member state without really adding any value.’
Osinbajo observed that it is important for MAN to involve itself in an advisory capacity to government negotiators “as we go further into the rules of origin negotiations (these rules negotiations have, of course, started), but I think as we go on, we should get more contributions and advise from MAN.
‘Our manufacturers must also strive to become competitive after clearly specified time periods so that they can withstand the ever-present danger of stiff competition from imports. In other words, while our manufacturing industries must be nurtured and supported, they cannot remain infants forever,’ he added.
Osinbajo, emphasising the point about enhancing industrial competitiveness, noted that ‘one of the ways to increase the competitiveness of African industries is to develop and deepen regional value chains wherein production systems starting from conception and design right through to supply of raw materials, processing, transport, storage, marketing and sales take place within our countries and continent.’
