The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ben Kalu, has solicited the cooperative efforts of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in boosting the exportation of primary products from Nigeria and Africa in general. Mr. Kalu made the call, when he visited the Director-General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in Geneva on the sidelines of the ongoing 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Switzerland.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Levinus Nwabughiogu, the deputy speaker told Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala of the challenges African farmers face in exporting their products. Mr. Kalu said African businessmen face hurdles in marketing their products, primarily due to aflatoxins contaminating them en route to their destinations. He added that the challenge is particularly pronounced within the context of “The African Growth and Opportunity Act, (AGOA),” which grants duty-free treatment to goods from specified sub-Saharan African countries (SSAs).
He, therefore, solicited the help of the WTO to set up centres in Africa for the treatment of the primary products packaged for export.
“Africa is interested in exporting our primary products. We have always had issues with these primary products we are exporting. Aflatoxins, I don’t know what you are putting together to help these products reduce that because it’s one of the complaints about products coming from Africa.
“I don’t know if there will be centres around Africa where businessmen who cannot afford to do this decontamination will get to that particular centre and detoxify their products to be able to meet the quality specifications before selling them off. Is the WTO interested in this and how much so? Are there programmes designed to be able to facilitate this?” Mr. Kalu enquired.
Responding to Mr. Kalu’s enquiries, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said that WTO is aware of the development and is also eager to assist countries in implementing their respective protocols on the issue.” She told the lawmaker the efforts that the WTO was making to assist African agripreneurs to meet the demand on the global scale and also get buyers outside the continent. She said, “At the WTO, we have been heavily promoting something we call re-globalisation. We are trying to persuade supply chains of companies located outside Africa, we are trying to tell them that this is also a good place.”
