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Davos: Africa boosts free trade while global barriers go up
A new Aican free trade area could be just weeks away as the last few countries ratify an agreement signed last year. The plan to boost intra-African trade by half is gaining much attention in Davos this year.
When you ask Tony Elumelu if Africa would profit from free trade, the Nigerian entrepreneur and philanthropist does not have to think long. “If we look at other parts of the world, intra-regional trade helped significantly. For us to develop in Africa, we must embrace this,” he told DW at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We need to develop and broaden the market. We need to integrate Africa by trade also.”
He might not have to wait much longer for this to happen. Last year, 49 African countries signed the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) agreement, which is supposed to do away with tariffs on most goods and other trade barriers.
The agreement will come into force once 22 countries have ratified it. With only seven more to go, it might only be a matter of weeks. So in times when others are erecting trade barriers once again, leaders on the continent are edging closer towards establishing the largest free trade area since the World Trade Organization’s inception.
It would create a market with a combined GDP of around three trillion dollars and, according to the African Union (AU), boost intra-African trade by 52 percent. As enterprises will get the chance to enter new markets, unemployment is predicted to fall and economic output to go up. And the effects in the long-run could be even more substantial.
Create value, attract investors
“Those nations who trade in raw materials are the ones that are poor. Those that actually trade in value-added products are the ones that are rich,” Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, explained. But as African economies will be able to cooperate more closely, he hopes companies will create more elaborate value chains to produce higher-quality goods.
Also, he considers the CFTA a big chance to attract investors. “Africa is open for business, the opportunities are there,” he said. “When people look at Africa, think of the population, think of the middle-class, think of the huge opportunities to invest across borders.”
Investments would come at a crucial time when it is estimated Africa lacks up to $100 billion (€88 billion) for infrastructure projects alone.
Making it work for the 99 percent
But as rosy as the economic future may seem, there are, of course, also challenges that governments will have to overcome. Winifred Byanyima, the head of Oxfam International, warned leaders of what freewheeling globalization can lead to.
“We have richer countries, richer companies, richer people gaining from trade liberalization and many others left behind,” she said. Whether Africans with lower incomes will also benefit from the CFTA would depend on what measures of success those in charge apply. “The most important measure is the good quality jobs that will be produced for our young people and for women.”
A new era — also for Nigeria?
Despite these words of caution, euphoria for the CFTA is high. Before Africa lies the beginning of a new economic era; and some regard it as only that, a start. Bernard Gautier of French investment company Wendel, for example, has already called for even deeper integration by means of common currencies.
And Tony Elumelu advocates to not only let goods flow freely. “We need to carry common passports or at least simplify the border entrance so that people can move freely intra-Africa. People who move freely can trade – and not otherwise,” the billionaire said.
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2027: Tinubu Dares Obi, Atiku to Showcase Their Achievements in Office, Accuses Them of Abandoning Their Responsibilities
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President Bola Tinubu has criticised former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over their political affiliations, questioning their leadership credentials ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Tinubu made the remarks on Friday during his visit to Akwa Ibom State, where he inaugurated projects executed by Governor Umo Eno’s administration and addressed supporters at a political gathering.
Although he did not mention either politician by name, he appeared to refer to Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, and Atiku, who joined the African Democratic Congress after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party.
Referring to Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor, Tinubu accused him of failing to tackle erosion in the state, contrasting it with his own claim of confronting the Atlantic Ocean during his administration as Lagos governor.
“One, who said he is in one party they call NDC, who is running for president. He ran away from erosion. In Anambra State, he could not confront erosion.
“I, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I confronted the Atlantic Ocean. I claim it for you. Umo Eno confronted the erosion in Akwa Ibom and is working for, he is stable,” the President said.
Tinubu also questioned the political loyalty of a former PDP member who moved to another party, in an apparent reference to Atiku’s defection to the ADC.
“If a man that was, once upon a time, was a baby of PDP, became a father of PDP. And because of a little inconvenience, he ran away from that party. And formed a dangerous ADC in another party. Is that a leadership trait? Is that a leadership character? And he wants you to vote for him?” he said.
Obi governed Anambra State between 2006 and 2014, while Atiku served as Nigeria’s Vice-President from 1999 to 2007 under the PDP.
Atiku contested the 2023 presidential election on the PDP platform, finishing second behind Tinubu, while Obi, who contested under the Labour Party, came third.
Obi left the Labour Party for the NDC in May 2026, while Atiku joined the ADC as part of opposition efforts ahead of the 2027 election.
Tinubu’s reference to Anambra’s erosion problem recalls his 2023 presidential campaign promise to tackle the menace in the state.
During a campaign rally in Awka in February 2023, the then APC presidential candidate promised to address gully erosion in Anambra, saying he would handle it in the same way he claimed to have tackled the Atlantic Ocean surge in Lagos.
“I have come here to promise you development. We will industrialise Nigeria and Anambra State. You know me, I am the city boy of Lagos; I caged the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos; the way I handled the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, I will handle the erosion menace in Anambra State,” he said at the time.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the long-awaited Ibom Deep Seaport project in Akwa Ibom State.
Tinubu announced the approval on Friday while responding to a request by Governor Umo Eno during a reception and rally held in his honour at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo.
The President, who was in the state to inaugurate projects executed by the Eno administration, said the development must promote inclusive growth, create economic value and bring progress to the people.
“Now, development must be even inclusive and reasonable, must bring progress and create economic value. I heard from my friend, my governor, my pastor, on behalf of the people and leadership of Akwa Ibom, request for Ibom’s deep-sea port,” Tinubu said.
After repeating the request, the President asked the crowd, “Will you vote?”
He subsequently declared, “Okay, It’s approved.”
The approval followed a pledge by Eno that Akwa Ibom would deliver two million votes for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 if the Federal Government delivered the seaport.
“Give us Ibom Deep Seaport, we will deliver two million votes. This deep seaport is capable of unlocking the economy of the state, the South-South region and Nigeria at large,” the governor said.
Eno described the seaport as the most important economic demand of the people of Akwa Ibom, saying it would transform the state’s maritime, industrial and employment landscape.
He said the people of the state had remained loyal to Tinubu since 2023 and were asking him to fulfil his promise to build the facility.
Tinubu had, during his 2023 presidential campaign rally at the same stadium, promised to build the deep seaport, citing the Lekki Deep Seaport, developed during his tenure as Lagos State governor, as an example of what he hoped to achieve in Akwa Ibom.
Eno said the project, conceived during the administration of former Governor Victor Attah as the Ibaka Deep Seaport and Industrial City, had remained unrealised for decades despite featuring in successive presidential campaigns.
“This seaport would serve as a major transhipment hub. It will create thousands of jobs for our people. It will open Akwa Ibom to international trade and investment,” he said.
The governor also said Akwa Ibom had aligned with the Federal Government by joining the All Progressives Congress to attract greater federal presence and development.
He assured Tinubu that the state would mobilise support for his re-election in 2027, saying the seaport would be a major dividend of his administration.
*Says ADC’s leadership that produced him, other candidates illegal
A Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the process that led to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for next year’s presidential election. FollowPolitics
In a judgment on Thursday, Justice Peter Lifu also voided the emergence of former Senate President David Mark, ex-Governor of Osun State Rauf Aregbesola, and others as ADC national officers.
Justice Lifu also voided the nominations of all ADC candidates for the 2027 general elections, holding that they emerged from the ADC’s illegal and unlawful leadership.
The judgment was delivered in a suit brought by an aggrieved ADC Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
The judge upheld Gombe’s contention that David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola emerged as party leaders through an unlawful and illegal process.
Justice Lifu set aside all actions taken by the Mark-led leadership in the name of ADC, holding that they were unlawful.
Details shortly…
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