The ED/CEO of Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Mr Olusegun Awolowo has said that Nigeria will continue to lead Africa for effective and timeless boosting of her foreign earnings and trade relations with other countries of the world and also enhance global trade relations with the continent globally.
The NEPC boss described African Growth and Opportunity Act ( AGOA) as the best for African nations to seek for economic freedom, viability and reliability .
Mr. Awolowo, who led the Nigerian delegation to 2019 African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, last week, said that the goal of AGOA since its inception in 2000, was in line with the policy of President Buhari’s government in terms of trade diversification and genuine economic growth of Nigeria.
The event, which attracted eminent personalities from Africa and the United States of America, USA, was graced by the Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire, Amadou Gon Coulibaly.
Mr Awolowo said the government of President Buhari had placed more emphasis on the need for the nation’s economy to be more sustainable and inclusive through the non-oil export sector, “ hence the reasons Nigerian Export Promotion Council launched its SERVICOM Charter recently to guarantee and enhance global standards for commodities by Nigerian exporters via proactive service relations between the Council and Nigerian exporters.”
In his address at the event, Ambassador C.J. Mahoney, Deputy United States Trade Representative, remarked that Africa was more prosperous, developed, and interconnected with the global economy than ever before.
Ambassador Mahoney said today, Africa contained some of the fastest growing economies in the world that had resulted in a rapidly expanding middle class contending that the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA, in May of this year was a remarkable achievement as it laid the groundwork for greater competitiveness, trade diversification, and economic growth in the continent.