Border closure not sustainable- Economic Advisory Council Chief, Salami
Chairman of the Federal Government Economic Advisory Council, Dr. Doyin Salami, has said border closure was not a sustainable strategy.
According to him, the nation must take pragmatic steps to reduce the cost of production for its products to be internationally competitive.
He said Nigeria will lose out in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA, unless its products could withstand international competition.
Dr. Salami spoke at the meeting on the development of the Secured Agricultural Commodity Transportation and Storage Corridor (SATS-C) in Abuja yesterday.
He said the nation would become a dumping ground for goods from other African countries if the cost of local production remained uncompetitive.
“It is important to bear in mind this issue of AfCFTA and the reason is very simple – upside and downside.
“The upside is the access to larger market and that is only available if we, as a country are prepared. As i am looking at it, Nigeria needs to be careful, our output may even diminish on the back of AfCFTA.
Why? because other countries with better and lower production costs will take advantage of our market which will become a disincentive to our farming community. Shutting borders does work but it is not a long term sustainable venture. Routes to market and infrastructure that drive trade are very important”.
He noted that agriculture accounted for more than 20% of the GDP, with more than 30% of the population engaged in agriculture but that only a small percentage of those involved in the sector had access to market.
According to him, “Opportunities are there but the structural challenges are where we need to pay attention. Our export of agriculture produce is very small compared to our import”, making the nation a bet importer.
The economist said some people might be surprised at his comments, as the Chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, but that his position was the fact.