By: Paul Ukpabio
The President of the Institute for Tourism Professional in Nigeria, Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, has disclosed that the forthcoming National Transportation Tourism Summit and Expo will be leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Regime for Economic Sustainability, which also is the Summit’s theme for this year.
Odusanwo said “this is derived from the AfCFTA trade agreement, which is a common market to grow trade in ‘Made-in-Africa’ goods and services by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade among African countries. The 4th edition of the Summit and Expo year 2021 comes up on the 15th to 16th of November, 2021 at the International Conference Centre (ICC) Abuja, with the theme.
Odusanwo said, “AfCFTA is a Common Market for 54 African countries of a population of 1.2 billion people which has a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than $3.4 trillion. “It is a huge market opportunity that cannot be ignored or wished away. The Summit and Expo will offer a platform for public and private sector stakeholders, producers, and consumers in Nigeria, and the African Continent to come together, share ideas, experiences, exchange knowledge and showcase their skills in the growth, development, and promotion of the nation’s economic endowments by promoting the ideals of the AfCFTA Agreements and leveraging on it, and also help Nigerians to get more enlightened and informed on the nitty-gritty of the AfCFTA agreements so that the country can fully explore the opportunities and benefits of the trade agreements.”
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The event is instituted and convened by the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Tourism, the Federal Ministry of Transportation, as well as the Federal Ministry of Aviation, as an annual event that focuses attention on the inter-play and connectivity between tourism and transportation, and to x-ray how comprehensively the various stakeholders and key players in the two industries at both public and private sector levels have fared in exploring the enormous opportunities and benefits inherent in synergizing them.
