President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that he would soon endorse the Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).

The President gave this during a joint briefing with South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa in Abuja.

He said: “I am very careful about what I sign whether it is my chequebook or agreements especially when it involves nations and states. As your president has said, we are so populated and have so many young unemployed citizens and our industries are just coming up.

“So, in trying to guarantee employment, goods and services in our country, we have to be careful with agreements that will compete maybe successfully against our upcoming industries.

“I was presented with the document; I am a very slow reader maybe, because I am an ex- soldier. I didn’t read it fast enough before my officials saw that it was all right for signature. I kept it on my table. I will soon sign it”, the President added.

It would be recalled that the free-trade zone agreement was endorsed on March 21 this year by 44 African countries in Kigali, Rwanda, while a few other African Union member-countries, including Nigeria, did not assent to the treaty.

President Buhari did not attend the meeting, hinging his decision on the need to consult widely with relevant stakeholders in the country.

The agreement commits countries to remove import duty on 90 per cent of all goods while identified “sensitive items” which make up the balance 10 per cent would also be phased out later as tariff free.

It also seeks to liberalise commercial services and also tackle “non-tariff barriers” which include extended delays and harassment at border posts, which hamper trade between African countries.

The CFTA is part of the Implementation of the African Union Agenda 2063: “the vision for an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.”