Minister of Trade and Investment, Segun Aganga.
Aganga said the agreement was not favourable to Nigeria.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said Nigeria would not rush into signing the Economic Partnership Agreement, EPA, on trade liberalisation between the European Union, EU, and the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
The Minister said that since the Federal Government's primary consideration in accepting to embrace the proposed agreement was to promote the overall well-being of the Nigerian economy, Nigeria would not sign the final agreement until certain aspects inimical to the overall interest of its economy were reviewed and amended.
Mr. Aganga, who was playing host to the Director-General, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, UNIDO, Li Yong, said Nigeria had raised 10 objections to the proposals presented by the EU during the negotiations.
Under the proposed EPA, the EU proposed that it would immediately offer the 15-member ECOWAS and the non-member state of Mauritania full access to its markets. In return, ECOWAS would gradually open up 75 per cent of access to European markets, with its over 300 million consumers, for over a 20-year period.
Following the proposal, technical negotiations were wrapped up last month with the EU offering a 6.5 billion euro (about N1.47 trillion) package over the next five years to help ECOWAS cushion the effects and costs of integrating its economy into the global economy.
The ECOWAS region includes Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Niger and Togo.
Mr. Aganga, whose ministry played a major role in the negotiations, said certain provisions of the agreement were not in the overall best interest of Nigeria's economy.
"The EPA is not ready for endorsement by the Heads of State and Government," Mr. Aganga said at the end of the Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of State in Yamoussoukro, Cote D'Ivoire, last week. "A committee made up of representatives from Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal is looking at the issues raised by member states, particularly Nigeria. The committee is expected to come up with a proposal for adoption."
He said when the Ministers went in for the meeting, the idea was to endorse the proposed EPA. He pointed out that the position had to change following various reservations and feedback from members of the private sector based on the ECOWAS model.
One major reservation about the proposal, the Minister stated, had to do with the way the proposed agreement by the EU was drafted; some aspect of which, Nigeria noted, would not be in the overall interest of her economy over the long term.
Mr. Aganga criticised the proposal by the EU that ECOWAS should open up 75 per cent of its market to Europe over a 20-year period. He said that this appeared harmless over the first five years, but the problem would manifest later, as there was no significant export activities to Europe at the moment.
The minister explained that, given Nigeria's current condition as an import-dependent economy, it would be counter-productive to completely open its doors for imports without first of all developing its industrial sector to compete globally.
He said doing otherwise – especially in those sectors where the country has comparative and competitive advantage – would negate the objectives provided in the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan recently launched by President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said there were some areas and sectors that the EU wanted ECOWAS to liberalise, which, if done in line with the proposed EPA, would have a very negative impact on the NIRP.
"Nigeria is the biggest country in the ECOWAS and we are already producing some of those goods that they want us to liberalise their importation. What this means is that, not now, but from 2025 to 2026, based on the items that have been included and excluded, there will be significant loss of revenue to the government, loss of jobs, investment and loss of even the ECOWAS market," Mr. Aganga said.
Underlining the need for ECOWAS to remain as one unit in the region, Mr. Aganga said, even where those items were imported into neighbouring countries, they would end up in Nigeria; a development that would have a negative impact on the country's economy.
"It is important for us to work together as ECOWAS members and not to allow EPA to divide us," Mr. Aganga said.
The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, in a communiqué at the end of their 44th ordinary summit in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, endorsed the conclusion of the Agreement in principle, noting, however, outstanding technical issues.
Consequently, the ECOWAS Commission President and his counterpart of the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union, UEMOA, who are the region's chief negotiators, were directed to establish a committee of representatives of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal to revisit the outstanding issues and make proposals for the consideration of the leaders.
Both officials were mandated to work with the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, which is negotiating the EPA with the region, for an Association Agreement.
The protracted EPA negotiations, dogged by differences mainly over West Africa's market access offer and the EPA Development Programme, EPADP, was one of the key issues discussed by the leaders during the two-day Yamoussoukro summit.
West Africa had originally wanted to liberalise 60 per cent of its market over 25 years, while the EU initial contribution was 16 billion euro (N3.63 trillion) to the EPADP to enable the region cope with the cost of adjustment.
Eventually, there was a compromise on a phased 75-per cent market access over 20 years, and a 6.5-billion euro EU contribution to the EPADP from 2015 to 2019.
Both parties have been working over the 12 years of negotiations to narrow their differences before signing the Agreement, which would create a World Trade Organisation, WTO compliant arrangement to replace the previous non-reciprocal regime that had guided trade relations between them.
The negotiations received a new impetus in October, 2013 when West African leaders, after an extraordinary summit in Dakar, urged both parties to demonstrate flexibility and also designated President Macky Sall of Senegal to lead the process for the resolution of the outstanding issues.
Why Nigeria delayed signing EU/ECOWAS trade liberalisation pact – Aganga.
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