AFCFTA: SEREC urges FG to establish Freight Places at borders
The Sea Empowerment Research Centre (SEREC) has challenged the Federal Government of Nigeria to take proactive steps to implement the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) while addressing infrastructural deficit in the country.
SEREC specifically urged the government to establish “Freight Places concept” or specialized market places to serve as consolidation places, packaging and labeling sub industries along the border corridors through Public-Private Partnership arrangement.
SEREC, in a call for action for Nigerian stakeholders towards the AfCFTA Implementation, raised concerns about lack of information from the government to stakeholders in the transport, maritime and trade industries regarding the activities of the AfCFTA.
Pointing out the need for Nigerians to be carried along in the implementation process, the Head of Research at SEREC, Dr. Eugene Nweke encouraged government to harmonize strategies, strengthen cooperation, and accelerate project implementation.
He advocated for the ratification and domestication of key charters and protocols, such as the Road Safety Charter, Maritime Transport Charter, and Luxembourg Protocol on Railway Rolling Stocks.
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He called for support for the creation of an enabling environment for private sector and public-private partnerships to build institutional capacities and implement necessary policies and regulatory frameworks.
Dr. Eugene Nweke pointed out all these were necessary in view of impediments to universal infrastructure services in Africa which include policy, regulatory, financial, technical, and capacity challenges, as well as new emerging challenges such as climate change, the Russian-Ukraine crisis, recently the Iran-Israel conflict, and disruptions in global supply chains.
To further boost knowledge about AfCFTA activities, SEREC advised the Federal Government to create a national correspondence desk and develop a national policy framework to fast-track the creation of an enabling environment for private sector and public-private partnerships.
According to SEREC, the Action Plan for the implementation of PIDA-PAP2 contains 69 large-scale projects, expected to cost over $160 billion over a 10-year implementation plan. However, project financing and implementation challenges have been encountered, with 50% of PIDA-PAP1 projects failing to reach the construction stage and 30% failing to go beyond the feasibility stage.
Despite challenges, successes have been recorded in the transport sector, with 16,066 kilometers of roads and 4,077 kilometers of railways developed. In the energy sector, 3,506 kilometers of transmission lines have been installed, lighting the way for 232 GW of electricity and connecting African electrical networks.
“The SEREC calls on Nigerian stakeholders to demand greater transparency and information dissemination from the AfCFTA Implementation Secretariat. We also urge the government to take proactive steps to implement the AfCFTA and address the challenges facing infrastructure development in Nigeria,” Nweke concluded.
