MAN hails FG for rejecting EPA

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has commended the Federal Government for not signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in its present form, having taken into consideration the negative effects this would have on local manufacturing.

In a statement signed by Remi Ogunmefun, director-general, MAN, the association said Federal Government’s efforts to enlist the support of other members of the African Union (AU) to reject the EPA in its present form should be sustained, adding that government should continue to convince other ECOWAS member states of the potential dangers of the EPA.

The EPA is a reciprocal preferential trade agreement being promoted by the European Union (EU) to create a free trade area (FTA) between the union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), through six regional economic communities into which the ACP is divided.

Kola Jamodu, president, MAN, said no country could develop without protecting its industries, stressing that Nigeria stood the risk of having its market flooded by European goods with resultant negative effect on local industries and economy, if the EPA was approved in its present form.

He pointed out that employment generation, which is a critical aspect of government’s transformation agenda and the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), required that local manufacturing be protected.

“MAN is delighted that Nigeria’s position has been vindicated by the support it received at the Extraordinary Session of the Conference of African Union Ministers of Trade held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 29, 2014,’’ the statement said.

“MAN is pleased that African Ministers of Trade and experts in trade and regional integration, at their recent meeting in Addis Ababa aligned with Nigeria’s position on EPA by expressing their dissatisfaction with the Agreement because of its negative impact on the African continent’s effort to industrialise and create jobs,’’ it further stated.

MAN also expressed gratitude to Olusegun Aganga, minister of industry, trade and investment, for his strong stance, which made him not to succumb to internal and external mercantile interests and pressures, whose objective is to turn Nigeria into a dumping ground for imported consumables to the detriment of local and foreign investors in manufacturing in the country.

The group reiterated its support for and commended all actions taken by the government on EPA and urged it to continue to reject EPA in its present form, as its acceptance would negatively impact the industrialisation process in Nigeria and lead to shutdown of local industries.