By DAVID IROJA, Abuja –
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement necessitate more inclusive trade initiatives and expanded intra-regional trade.
Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the vice president spoke at the inaugural gala night of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Promotion Organisations (TPO) Network.
The President of ECOWAS TPO Network is Mr Segun Awolowo, Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), while Mr Guy M’Bengue, the Chief Executive Officer, Cote d’Ivoire Export Promotion Organisation, is the vice president.
Osinbajo said that the TPO Network, which was established with the support of the International Trade Centre (ITC), was a farsighted and insightful initiative of the ECOWAS, trade promotion organisations in the ECOWAS community.
According to Osinbajo, ECOWAS TPO Network is a public-sector led entity and will work in partnership with the ECOWAS Commission to drive inclusive trade development initiatives within West Africa and beyond.
The vice president said the network had world class human resource capacity to succeed in achieving its set objectives.
He commended the ECOWAS and the TPO network for the success of the inauguration and its First Annual General Assembly.
According to the vice president, there is the imminent task of enabling our region benefit maximally from the AfCFTA and other intra and extra regional export opportunities.
Dignitaries present at the event included the wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Industry, Trade and Investment; Otunba Niyi Adebayo and his colleague Minister of State, Ambassador Mariam Katagum, among others.
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