Nigerian traders happy EU trade deal blocked

The EU would have opened up its market to ECOWAS in exchange for 75 per cent market share.
The National Association of Nigerian Traders, NANT, on Tuesday, hailed the Federal Government for withholding its assent to the trade liberalization agreement spearheaded by the European Union, EU, under the Economic Partnership Agreement, EPA pact with the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
In a letter to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, the National President of NANTS, Ken Ukoha, said its members and the private sector were satisfied with the minister’s role, particularly in carrying all the critical stakeholders along in the negotiations culminating in the draft agreement.
Mr. Ukoha commended Mr. Aganga for his approach to ensure that Nigeria held the ace in the ongoing EPA negotiations, urging him to continue with due diligence and diplomacy given the great hope by Nigerians, the private sector and industries for the future despite the current challenges the country was facing.
NANTS, however, drew the attention of the minister to the need for member countries of ECOWAS to articulate their positions well in line with the resolution of the Heads of States of the region at the end of their Summit in Yamusokoro, Cote D’Ivoire, mandating Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, and Cote D’Ivoire to meet to consider and/or address the issues.
The traders’ group urged Nigeria to go beyond ‘signing or not signing’ the agreement to outputting concerns and interests in a more defined and coherent manner.
Under the EPA, the EU had offered the 15-member ECOWAS and non-member state Mauritania full access to its markets. In return, ECOWAS would gradually open up 75 per cent of its markets to Europe, with its 300 million consumers, over a 20-year period.
But Mr. Aganga, whose ministry played a major role in the EPA negotiations, said certain provisions of the agreement, which Nigeria was expected to sign at the ECOWAS Heads of States meeting in
Yamoussoukro, Cote D’Ivoire, last month, were not in the overall best interest of the Nigerian economy.
“One major reservation was that the way the agreement was done, which would not be in the overall interest of the Nigerian economy over the long term. For instance, in the area of market access, the EU wants us to open our market by 75 per cent over a 20-year period,” he said.
This, he noted, appears harmless, because over the first five years, there would be no major impact, since they would open all their doors for us to export to Europe.
He said the problem was that Nigeria does not export much to Europe, making the benefit insignificant.
Mr. Aganga said given Nigeria’s current condition as an import-dependent economy, it would be counter-productive to completely open its doors for imports without first of all developing its industrial sector to compete globally, especially in those sectors where the country has comparative and competitive advantage as provided in the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan, NIRP recently launched by President Goodluck Jonathan.