Expdonaloaded News; Osinbajo, Mbeki condemn signing of EPA

VICE President Yemi Osi­bnajo and the Chairman of the United Nations High Level Panel on Illicit Finan­cial Flows from Africa, Dr. Thabo Mbeki, have faulted the signing of the Econom­ic Partnership Agreement (EPA) by some African countries. The duo spoke at the An­nual General Meeting(AGM) of the Manufacturers Associ­ation of Nigeria(MAN) held in Lagos yesterday.
Mbeki, however, com­mended Nigeria for its hard stance on the trade agree­ment, noting that Nigeria does not need EPA now until it has been adequately indus­trialised and is able to trade industrial goods competi­tively. Mbeki noted that the EPA will only confine the Ni­gerian economy to a mere market expansion of the Eu­ropean Union since it cannot operate with Europe on all grounds. On trade agreements, Osinbajo explained that, though there are tendencies for governments to be care­less about their provisions, the Buhari administration will not accede to agree­ments that will open fledging industrial firms to risks. He added that the present administration is reviewing measures to aid the ease of doing business in the coun­try through legislations and implementation of business friendly policies. The former South African president urged the Federal Government to industrialise, focusing on manufactur­ing ,by adopting sustainable development goals to check growing economic imbal­ance as well as to check the potent threat of illicit fund flows, arising from trade mispricing, to the survival of the continent. On the EPA, Mbeki said: “The Europeans dangle im­mediate benefits to a country that is, probably, in need. De­spondent, the country short­sightedly signs the EPA, allowing Europe to achieve its single-minded objective of leaving a weaker, more disadvantaged and more ex­ploited continent in its wake. Something of this sort started at a Berlin Conference in the 19th Century. But today, Brussels must not set Africa back in time. “The conclusion from all this is very clear. It is that Af­rica, together with rest of the ACP, has a difficult struggle ahead – the struggle to ensure that the global economy is re­structured in a manner which fully recognises and seeks to correct what the Libreville Declaration identified as “in­equities of the international economic order and the continued absence of a level playing field”. MAN President, Dr. Frank Jacobs, however, urged the Federal Govern­ment to address challenges hindering the growth of the productive sector if the real sector’s contribution to the GDP would improve beyond its present level.