President Muhammadu Buhari has assured participants at the 2nd Intra-African Trade Fair 2021, that his delegation is attending with ‘‘full force’’ to maximize the advantage of the gathering.
Buhari’s media aide, Garba Shehu, in a statement in Abuja, said the President made this known while addressing the opening ceremony of the event in Durban, South Africa.
The President however expressed optimism that the creation of the biggest free trade area in the world, the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, would work, especially with the active collaboration of the public and private sectors.
He also appealed for the implementation of the free trade initiative, listing several benefits to the continent, including doubling trade in 10 years and reducing over-reliance on imports.
Buhari expressed concern that most of Africa’s existing challenges, whether security, economy, or corruption, could be traced to the inability over the years to domesticate the production of most basic requirements and provide jobs to her teeming and dynamic youth population.
