Ambassador Yonov Agah, Director-General of NOTN/Nigerian Chief Trade Negotiator
By Felix Khanoba
The Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) and key stakeholders have reached an agreement on Nigeria’s draft Offer for Specific Commitment under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Trade in Services.
The consensus was reached during a one-day validation meeting organised by NOTN in Abuja on Tuesday to finalize the draft offer for submission to the AfCFTA Secretariat.
The event, which brought together representatives from Nigeria’s five priority sectors—Business, Communication, Financial, Tourism, and Transport—was aimed at reviewing and incorporating additional stakeholder inputs into the draft.
Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Yonov Agah, Director-General of NOTN and Chief Trade Negotiator, who emphasized the importance of the gathering, said the meeting was convened for the stakeholders to have a final look of the Offer, as per what is being transmitted to the secretariat, for the purpose of inclusiveness.
Agah also highlighted the significant role of the services sector, which contributes between 60% and 70% to the nation’s GDP.
He encouraged participants to seize the opportunities embedded in the sector through the finalized Offer.
The NOTN boss further explained that discussions during the Enlarged National Focal Point (ENFP) meeting focused on how to present Nigeria’s Draft Offer, adding that the deliberations were necessary due to the complexities and challenges involved in ECOWAS’ combined offer for Trade in Services under the AfCFTA framework.
A communique issued at the end of the meeting on Tuesday outlined key deliberations, including updates on the Protocol on Trade in Services, Nigeria’s Offer, and the ECOWAS Combined Offer.
Stakeholders also reviewed the offers in their respective sectors and acknowledged the challenges posed by the ECOWAS Combined Offer.
They resolved to proceed with submitting Nigeria’s Draft Offer independently as a State Party under the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Services.
“The decision was arrived at to avoid further delays in the negotiating process and the difficulties that may arise in understanding the ECOWAS Combined Offer,” the communique stated.
Among the key recommendations from the meeting were:
Submission of Nigeria’s Draft Offer as a State Party and initiation of discussions on reviewing Nigeria’s trade in services commitments under the World Trade Organisation, which have remained unchanged for 30 years.
