By Bimbola Oyesola
The Organised Private Sector (OPS) yesterday, reiterated its opposition to the planned admittance of Morocco, a North African country into the Economic Community of West Africa States ( ECOWAS) as a full member, warning it would imply signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) through the back door.
The Organised Private Sector (OPSN) an umbrella organisation of the group comprising of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI) and Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), in resisting the proposal however charged the Federal Government to oppose Morocco’s application.
President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Frank Jacobs, who expressed the position of the OPS, noted that the envisaged injury which the present form of EPA could cause Nigeria, particularly the manufacturing sector, will also occur if Morocco is admitted into the community as a full member.
The OPS urged the Federal Government, ECOWAS Commission and other stakeholders in the Nigerian economy to reject the application. It urged the Nigerian Government to as a matter of national interest and utmost urgency deploy necessary diplomatic machinery to halt the proposed enlistment of Morocco into the membership of ECOWAS regional bloc.
The group opined that rejecting the Morocco would enable Nigeria to have a formidable position on or before the first quarter 2018 when the final verdict on the application will be concluded by ECOWAS.
However, OPS believes that Nigeria should dispassionately encourage Morocco to leverage the CFTA platform for the promotion of its trade aspirations not only in West Africa, but in Africa as a whole.
The President of MAN said the association as the OPS leading voice on trade related matters believes that signing EPA in its present form will adversely affect the manufacturing sector, dispel the industrialisation headways already made, worsen the unemployment and poverty levels in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that many Nigerians and organizations have condemned the Moroccan application and have all warned against the admission of Morocco into the membership of ECOWAS because of its negative implications on the region, particularly Nigeria.
Stating reasons why the Moroccan application for ECOWAS full membership should be rejected, Jacob maintained that Morocco is a North African country that shares no boundary with any of the ECOWAS Member States.
“It is a direct attempt to reduce the influence and strength of Nigeria as a strategic Political and Economic force in ECOWAS.
“Morocco promise to build infrastructure if admitted into the ECOWAS regional bloc needs to be technically appraised; as the country’s unemployment level and debt-to-GDP ratio of 64.7% as contained in the 2016 International Monetary Fund(IMF) report against the IMF benchmark of 40% for developing and emerging economies clearly reveals the likelihood of a mere wishful thinking.
“Moroccan economy is not industrialized and so, one wonders where it will get industrial goods to trade with ECOWAS. The obvious is that it would further the interest of EU by becoming a strategic channel for pushing in EU goods that Nigeria is currently challenging through the back door; the Moroccan economy is also largely agrarian, one may also wonder what ECOWAS member-states economies that are predominantly agrarian will benefit from admitting Morocco into the Community”, MAN President said.