Francis Anatogu, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Public Sector Matters and Secretary of the National Action Committee (NAC) on African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), claimed that when the inter-African trade policy fully takes off, it will reduce poverty in Nigeria and increase citizens’ capacity to create wealth.
This was mentioned by Anatogu at the CEO Luncheon/Dinner of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria’s (MAN) Toiletries and Cosmetics Manufacturing Group (T&C group) in Lagos.
Although he observed that inter-agency cooperation was required if Nigeria was to fully profit from the agreement, he portrayed the regional trade pact as a process that would benefit future generations, noting that those who would benefit “are probably still in basic schools.”
The aide revealed that his committee was talking about potential areas of collaboration with other organizations. He asserted that it was in the best interests of all Nigerians for the AfCFTA, which is anticipated to increase commerce among African nations, to live up to its lofty expectations.
“Trade between African nations will lift millions out of poverty. Nigeria is really promising. The worldwide cosmetics market is worth N32 billion, but in order to sell to the rest of the world, we must make competitively, he claimed.
Anatogu stated that the committee would work with the cosmetic companies to get them ready to benefit as much as possible from the deal.
Nigeria, according to the group’s chairman Uche Okafor, has a competitive advantage in the cosmetics industry, which may be used as a selling point under the AfCFTA.
He claimed that manufacturers could compete with their rivals everywhere in the globe if they perfected their packaging.
“We need to do better in some areas, and packaging is one of them. There can be concerns with expertise. However, the players continue to increase their capacity.
The biggest problem is infrastructure. The sector may become a significant economic driver with the help of the government, he said.
Participants called on the government to establish an enabling climate for manufacturers as they talked about funding, regulatory, and packaging challenges.
