Sanusi calls for regional and pan-African approach to trade negotiations

Muhammed Sanuli II, the Emir of Kano and a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has called on African nations to embrace regional and pan-African approach to trade negotiations.

The Emir made the call yesterday while speaking at the ongoing 2018 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group in Busan, Korea.

Sanusi, who questioned why African nations could not approach trade negotiations as a bloc even as European nations could adopt the model, recommended AfDB to lead negotiation with China on behalf of Africa as a bloc of nations.

“The African Development Bank has the intellectual resources and clearly is better positioned to negotiate with China on behalf of Africa as a bloc of nations.

“Europe approached global trade as a bloc, so why can’t African nations do the same? This is clearly another area in urgent need of the Bank’s intervention,” he said

The monarch also emphasized the need for Africa’s development agenda to focus on the upliftment of Africa’s trade and economic ecosystem, and prioritizing the socio-cultural and commercial interests of Africans.

He charged African Governments to invest in and promote creativity and indigenous enterprise.

According to him, “Africa’s economic transformation will be best achieved through fast-tracking regional cooperation and the execution of hard-nosed structural reforms that focus on the development of the continent’s human capital and material resources.

“Nine out of every 10 countries in Africa have huge trade deficits with China, but Asia developed mostly on domestic investments and resources.”

The Emir proposed several structural reforms focusing on agriculture, infrastructure, education, and small and medium enterprises, calling on deliberate industrial diversification.

Read Also: NSE: Equities market sheds N17bn as market indicators drop by 0.12%

He also noted that China has begun to move its mega-sized manufacturing capabilities out of low-cost industries.

“African Government also need to eradicate constitutional provisions and structures that increase the cost of governance at national and sub-national levels, manage demographic growth, and revamp and harmonize moribund and ineffective customs and excise duties that promote cross-border smuggling and revenue losses to governments,” he added.

The African Development Bank’s 53rd Annual Meetings, which have in attendance financial and development expertsm business leaders and Finance Ministers from Africa and other parts of the world, started on Monday, May 21, 2018, in Busan, Korea, and expected to close on Friday, May 25, 2018.

The theme for this year’s event is, “Accelerating Africa’s Industrialization.”

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now