Business News
Trade remedies needed for African free trade implementation – Tola Onayemi
Onayemi said Trade remedies would protect the market from getting flooded by subsidized goods of foreign companies.
Trade remedies to protect Nigerian producers from unfair and injurious trade practices from foreign companies that harm domestic industries are key factors for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This was disclosed by Tola Onayemi, Head, Trade Remedies Unit National office for Trade Negotiations on Thursday at the AfCFTA Sensitization Seminar organized by the National Action Committee of the implementation of the agreement.
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Mr. Onayemi said Trade remedies would protect the market from getting flooded by subsidized goods of foreign companies which would be sold below competitive prices for Nigerian producers. “Trade remedies is not protectionism, it’s protection against unfair trade practices,” he said.
He added that the remedies are policy tools used by governments to take remedial action against unfair trade practices by companies and countries which cause injury to domestic industries, after a rules-based investigation.
READ: AfCFTA delay: A bane to Africa’s $3.4 trillion economic bloc
Onayemi cited WTO and AfCFTA Trade laws which make provisions for trade remedies in trade agreements. He cited Article 17,18,19 and 20 AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Goods and Annex 9 of the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Goods and the CFTA Guidelines implementation of Trade Remedies in accordance with the relevant WTO agreement. He said the AfCFTA and WTO laws protect against Anti-dumping, which are only applied after a careful analysis has been taken by the host nation.
Before an application of a trade remedy policy tool can be investigated, there must be an existing legislation/regulation and an Investigating authority recognized by international organizations as the body responsible to investigate and recommend appropriate remedies for each unfair practice. If the investigation has been carried out, and there is proof of government subsidies on the product entering the host market, the difference in price is added at the border, before the goods enter the market.
READ: Key ‘side-hustles’ Nigerian Bankers supplement their income with
He added that the key features of any Trade Remedy Mechanism include:
- Data-driven
- Technical and Investigation based
- Independent of any Policy-making Arm
- Timelines
- Full Notification and Disclosures ( to WTO/AfCFTA, all Importers, Exporters, Home Countries of investigated importer).
READ: Implementation of National Action Plan suspended due to disruption by Covid-19
On Nigeria’s Trade Remedy implementation policies, Onayemi mentioned a 3-month On-The-Job-Training for Country Trade Remedy experts held from April-June 2018, the Set-up and meetings of EMT committee on Trade Remedies in 2018, also in 2018 Approval of Nigerian Trade Remedies Infrastructure by EMT and Basic technology frameworks for Trade Remedies Investigation in December 2019.
READ: Hotels in Nigeria are on the verge of collapse
Outstanding tasks include the Signing and Publication of Legal Framework of Nigerian trade remedies and the Deployment and launch of Trade Remedies Electronic Platform with integration by the Nigerian Customs, NBS and Finance.
Business News
Why Emirates airline is yet to resume international flights to Lagos, Abuja
The Federal Government directed the immediate suspension of outbound flights of Emirates Airlines on February 4.
Some reports have suggested the reason why Emirates Airlines has not gotten approval to resume flight operations to Abuja and Lagos.
According to a report from Thisday, the alleged insistence by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that only Emirates Airlines would be allowed to operate to Dubai from Nigeria has prompted the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to deny the Middle East airline the approval to resume flights to Abuja and Lagos.
The report says that Sirika may not allow Emirates to resume flight operations to Nigeria until the UAE carrier drops the condition that it should be the only carrier operating from Nigeria. Emirates condition would mean that Air Peace and other carriers such as Ethiopia Airlines, Egypt Air and RwandAir would stop airlifting passengers to Dubai from Nigeria.
According to the report, the Regional Terminal Manager, South West, in charge of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Mrs Victoria Shin-Aba, confirmed that Emirates was yet to resume flights in Nigeria.
She said that until the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 provides the infrastructure that would be needed for the rapid test, Emirates Airlines would not resume operations in Nigeria.
She also disclosed that other international airlines have started flight operations and things have normalized, although the passenger traffic has not increased.
Travel agency operators have expressed their full support of the decision of the Federal Government not to allow only Emirates Airline to operate from Nigeria to Dubai as the travel agents would not make money and the airfares would be outrageously high if the airline was allowed to enjoy such monopoly.
This would also shut the door against Nigeria’s indigenous carrier, Air Peace that operates to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
What you should know
It can be recalled that the Federal Government had directed the immediate suspension of outbound flights of Emirates Airlines for 72 hours with effect from February 4, until when the needed infrastructure and logistics were put in place for the Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) test by the Nigerian Government.
This follows accusations against the airline, that it was airlifting passengers from Nigeria using RDT done in laboratories that were not approved by regulatory authorities.
Emirates had insisted that it must conduct Rapid Antigens Test (RDT) for Nigerian passengers travelling to Dubai four hours before they board their flights and in addition to the accepted PCR test made compulsory by the federal government.
Coronavirus
Facebook launches social media drive to boost Covid-19 acceptance in Nigeria
This initiative is coming at a time when a good number of Nigerians are yet to accept the Covid-19 vaccine and promised not to take them.
Facebook has announced the launch of a new social media drive allowing people to add frames and graphics to their profiles on Facebook and Instagram, saying they have either had the Covid-19 vaccine or plan to do so.
The American Technology conglomerate is collaborating with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and other key regulatory bodies within the Health Sector in the country in driving this initiative.
According to Punch, this disclosure was made known through a statement issued by Facebook on Friday, saying it would use its scale and speed to reach people faster and help them get credible information, get vaccinated and come back together safely.
This initiative is coming at a time when a good number of Nigerians are yet to accept the Covid-19 vaccine and promised not to take them.
Facebook said that the new range of Facebook frames and Instagram GIPHY stickers allow people to share their support for getting vaccinated with their family and friends, as the access to Covid-19 vaccines intensify across Nigeria.
The frames and stickers include banners that say ‘Let’s Get Vaccinated’ or ‘I Got My Covid-19 Vaccine’ which would appear overlaid on the edge of their profile picture next to a blue bubble that reads ‘We Can Do This.’
Facebook, pointed out that due to the reluctance of millions of people to accept the vaccine, it was launching the profile frames with research showing how social norms could have a major impact on people’s attitude and behaviour when it comes to their health.
Facebook’s Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa, Adaora Ikenze, said, “We’re promoting these unique profile frames and GIFs to all Nigerian Facebook and Instagram users to raise vital vaccine confidence.’’
The new frames and GIPHY stickers let you share your support for COVID-19 vaccines, and see that others you respect and care about are doing the same.”
On his part, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib, said partnerships like the one secured with Facebook demonstrated the resilience of the human spirit to endure, innovate and reemerge with the promise of hope that COVID-19 vaccination offered to everyone.
What you should know
Facebook has in recent times, have been taking aggressive measures to do away with vaccine misinformation across the globe.
A top executive of Facebook had said that the company has fact-checkers in dozens of countries around the world, who are really working round the clock to look at misinformation about vaccines, as it sees it as absolutely imperative to try to get misinformation off the platform and redirect people to accurate information.
Facebook said that it started removing false information about Covid-19 vaccines in December, and expanded the list of offending vaccine-related claims two months later.
