Nigeria remains committed to free trade – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said Nigeria remained fully committed to free international trade despite its present economic circumstances.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke while granting audience to the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ambassador Roberto Azevedo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President was said to have assured Azevedo that Nigeria would remain part of the world market in spite of the falling price of oil.

“I am glad that you are aware of the position we’ve found ourselves, the state of our economy, our consumption pattern, and many others. Despite it all, we remain committed to the ideals of free international trade championed by the WTO,” the President said.

The WTO boss expressed delight that Nigeria had continued to work with multilateral organisations, adding that the trade group would soon start conversations on important issues for the country, including the development of small and medium-scale enterprises, which he described as the biggest employers of labour in developing countries.

“We want to bring the private sector close so that we can understand the main challenges. Nigeria has a big part to play, though the times are difficult. Prices of oil are unprecedentedly low, emerging economies are slowing down, and commodity prices are shrinking. But majority of the WTO members know that there is no gain in blocking goods,” Azevedo said.

He also called on the Federal Government to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement, which was unveiled at the Nairobi convention in Kenya, stating that the Nigerian economy had a lot to benefit from the agreement.

Azevedo said the SMEs operating in the country would enjoy immense benefits from the agreement if ratified by the country.

Speaking during a meeting with the Organised Private Sector in Abuja, he said the TFA would primarily help reduce the cost of doing business and make local SMEs competitive.

He explained that while big companies could afford to cope with the previous trade agreements because of the enormity of the legal and financial resources at their disposal, small businesses were often subdued.