…As Buhari seeks Japanese support to curb Piracy and illegal fishing***
The African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina on Thursday highlighted the size of trade within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as about $3.3 trillion, noting that the continent now has a huge market which can no longer be ignored.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina stated this at the ongoing Tokyo International Conference of African Development (TICAD) in Japan, in a statement issued by the bank’s Communication and External Relations Department, adding that the AfDB Boss said Africa had the largest free trade zone, since the World Trade Organizations was established.
He explained that Africa represented a massive business opportunity, adding “the world’s 12 fastest-growing countries are in Africa’’.
“With a population of more than one billion people, consumer spending in Africa is projected to rise from 680 billion dollars in 2008 to 2.2 trillion dollars by 2030.
“The continent will have the fastest growing youth population in the world by 2030.
“Significantly, the African continent far outpaces every other region in the world when it comes to the uptake of mobile phones and internet connectivity.
“And of all the world’s continents, Africa has been the fastest growing mobile market for the past five years, with more than 200 million mobile users.
“It has also recorded the highest internet growth, from just 2.1 per cent in 2005, to over 24 per cent in 2018. By 2025, an estimated 300 million people will come online in Africa.
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“Five years later by 2030, Africa will have 16 per cent of the world’s internet users, a growth of over 260 per cent from 2017,’’ he said.
The president said the growth was dramatic and would not stop there as the continent was building on this growth of mobile telephony to inaugurate a new wave of dynamic and more competitive digitally enabled businesses.
According to him, the number of technology hubs, physical spaces designed to foster and support tech startups and growth dramatically to 442, with the largest concentrations in South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Ghana.
He said these centres provided space for entrepreneurs from all sectors to innovate and integrate digital solutions into traditional sectors.
In the meantime, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Yokohama, Japan, sought the support of the Japanese government in combating piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as well as illegal fishing in that region.
The President made the request during a bilateral meeting between the Nigerian delegation and Japanese officials led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity in a statement in Abuja said, the meeting was held on the margins of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7).
The Nigerian leader, who commended Mr Abe for the invitation extended to him to attend the triennial Forum, also thanked the Japanese government for attending the pioneer celebration of June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria.
In his remarks, Prime Minister Abe welcomed President Buhari’s participation at TICAD7 and the country’s signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
While commending the Buhari administration for taking Nigeria to the Next Level, Abe pledged a 300,000 dollars support for Nigeria’s Defence College as well as 12 million Yen for the country’s public health sector.
He also pledged his country’s support for Nigeria’s Presidency of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, while seeking Nigeria’s support for Japan’s bid to occupy some global positions.
Also on Thursday in Yokohama, according to Adesina, Nigeria and the European Union signed a €50 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support humanitarian and development efforts in the country’s North East region.
The cooperation agreement which was signed by Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama and EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Mr. Neven Mimica, would bring the total EU support to the country to 562 million Euros for 2014 to 2020.
President Buhari, who thanked the EU member states for their support especially over the North East, described as “pathetic the situation in internally displaced camps.”
He also called for further assistance to improve youth education in the region to take them out of poverty.
Commissioner Mimica said Nigeria’s request for enhanced assistance would be given priority consideration since it had come at the time that the EU was in the process of preparing its seven-year budget.
