AfCFTA: Nigeria, others may be pdumping ground, LADOL boss warns African leaders 

She disclosed  this in an interview with Financial Times and a copy made available to newsmen in Lagos yesterday.

Jadesimi who said the successful implementation of the agreement would create the world’s largest free trade zone in world feared that the continent could be turned into a dumping ground for cheap Chinese, US or European if not properly managed.

“We need a continental-focused solution that is developed by the (African Union), and targets making the trade agreement a mechanism for local industrialisation,” says Ms jadesimi, managing director of Ladol, a Lagos-based industrial free zone.

“That should be the aim of this trade agreement, rather than just something broad and high level about economic growth or prosperity — those things won’t come if underlying all of this, we do not create jobs and lift our economies through industrialisation,” she adds.

She stated further that though supporters argued that AfCFTA has the potential to spur economic growth in a bloc of nations with a combined gross domestic product of more than $3tn, creating the world’s largest free trade zone but major challenges remain that any pact must offer incentives to boost African manufacturing or it will fail.

According  to her, the outcome could further turn the continent into a dumping ground for cheap Chinese, US or European goods.

“Are we going to create an entirely new paradigm for trade, that is Africa-centric, that is controlled by African countries, and that disincentives foreign companies and countries outside of the continent from importing — are we going to do that?” she asks. “That’s going to be really tricky.”

Recall that the African Union summit in Niger Republic in July was a landmark moment for the pact whose roots stretch back decades.

Although the deal officially came into force on May 30, the implementation of any final agreement is at least three years away and specifics on everything from rules of origin to intellectual property must be agreed between a diverse group of largely fragmented economies.

The agreement must also contend with a history of regional trade agreements that have largely flopped and done little to bolster trade integration — the AfCFTA will need to be harmonised with eight such regional pacts.

Beyond the issue of whether the costs of an open market outweigh the benefits to specific countries, there is also the question of whether it is possible for Africa to overcome its structural challenges to trade.

The agreement aims to remove 90 per cent of tariffs to create a single market with free movement of goods and services. However, sceptics question how under-resourced governments — newly deprived of that tariff revenue — will be able to afford to upgrade poor infrastructure.