Osinbajo: African Cross-border Trade Worth $93bn

Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the African Cross-border Informal Trade is estimated to be worth $93 billion and one that offers limitless opportunities for the industrialization of Africa.

Mr Osinbajo stated this on Thursday in a message to a Roundtable on Industrialization in Africa where he stressed the need to rapidly operationalise the effort by Afreximbank to establish a Pan-African Payments and Settlement Platform.

The move according to the Nigerian vice president “will go a long way in creating the desired continental payments system and also in facilitating cross-border informal trade which is estimated to be about $93 billion per annum.”

Vice presidential spokesman Laolu Akande, in a statement, quoted Mr Osinbajo as urging authorities to take the right actions to actualize the limitless opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

He stated that such actions include the protection of local industries and improving value chains.

“For certain, the AfCFTA is indispensable if industrial development is to take off in Africa because it offers wider markets and economies of scale which are essential for manufacturing to be competitive,” the statement read.

He added further that “we must take policy actions to create an environment in which businesses can thrive. To start with, we must adopt the right type of macroeconomic and industrial policies.

“It is important for African governments to provide a stable macroeconomic environment which avoids and smoothens out volatility in prices, sharp deteriorations in the current account and budget deficits and of course, rapid accumulation in debt burdens.”

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