By Stellamaries Amuwa, Abuja
Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office has celebrated the first export of goods to Kenya under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), describing it as a milestone.
Shipment of goods from Nigeria’s company Lucky Fibres, a subsidiary of the Tolaram Group, are underway to Kenya’s port of Mombasa following completion of documentation and verification by the Nigeria Customs Service, which is the country’s Designated Competent Authority (DCA).
Speaking recently during the documentation exercise at the Apapa Area Command of NCS, the Senior Trade Policy and Law Expert/Lead at the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Olusegun Olutayo, said the shipment is a demonstration of the collaborative spirit of AfCFTA.
Olutayo, who is an international trade law expert revealed that, “We are not doing it alone; message already sent to the Secretariat in Ghana that there will be a shipment under AfCFTA to Kenya. Equally we have communicated with the AfCFTA implementation committee in Kenya. So this is the spirit we are building to ensure that we increase intra-African trade.”
Further, he extolled the NCS for rising to its statutory mandate of facilitating trade, adding that seamless documentation process by the DCA is already an encouragement for intending exporters under the AfCFTA.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has been fantastic; they are ready to facilitate trade. Once they hear that there is an issue, particularly around the AfCFTA, you will see everybody ready to support and facilitate it, which is the essence of true trade facilitation,” Olutayo noted. Assuring the stakeholders of total support, Olutayo said the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office under the leadership of Mr. Olusegun Awolowo is committed to effective coordination of the whole process of the intra-Africa trade and stakeholders in line with its mandate.
In his remarks, Assistant Comptroller Olusola Salako, the releasing officer for Lilypond Export Command at Apapa Area Command, said the NCS is leveraging technology to ensure successful trade under the AfCFTA.
Salako said: “The service has aligned with the mandates of the World Customs Organisation to prioritise the importance of trade. Gone are the days when we experienced issues. Today, we have a Unified Customs Management System (UCMS). With trade becoming more global, we went back to the drawing board and improved our technology, which will help us facilitate trade.”
Speaking further on the level of preparation by the NCS, Salako noted that, “Officers have been trained, and we have dedicated officers, senior officers, and releasing officers for this particular export procedure—not limited to AfCFTA alone—and we also have dedicated ports.”
