| dc.description.abstract | This study assessed Nigeria’s trade performance during the respective African, Caribbean, Pacific, and European Union (ACP-EU) partnership agreements (Lomé Convention and Cotonou partnership agreement) because of their contributions to the formulation of Nigeria’s trade policies. Specifically, Nigeria’s trade performance during the respective regimes of the ACP-EU partnership agreements viz Lomé convention and the Cotonou agreement; obstacles to Nigeria’s trade performance during the respective ACP-EU Partnership Agreements; and strategies to improve Nigeria’s trade performance post Lomé convention and Cotonou partnership agreement were evaluated.
The study adopted the mixed research design using both quantitative and qualitative data. Data were collected from primary (key informant interviews) and secondary (official publications of the Federal Government of Nigeria, journal articles, ACP-EU publications, magazines, and the internet among others) sources. Explicitly, quantitative and qualitative data were utilized for objective one while only qualitative data were used for objectives two, three, and four. Indeed, six (6) respondents were selected purposively for the conduct of the key informants interview. Whereas content analysis was used for the analysis of data, findings were presented thematically according to the objectives of the study.
Objective one revealed that Nigeria’s trade performed differently attributable to the texts of the partnership agreements. In fact, based on the non-reciprocal nature of the Lomé Convention, Nigeria’s trade grew steadily except for the decline in 1998. However, Nigeria recorded a negative balance of trade in 2020 during the tenure of the Cotonou agreement. Therefore, objective two showed the lack of diversification, uncompetitive nature of products, the loss of revenue, regional integration concerns, and neocolonial disposition of the partnership agreements, and so on as obstacles to Nigeria’s trade performance in the eras of the Lomé Convention and Cotonou partnership agreements.
Nevertheless, objective three recommends that stakeholders such as the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations [NOTN], etc. should be involved in future trade negotiations; agencies of the government like the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and Nigerian Immigration should improve their border security operations; the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, & Investment should consider a prior bilateral agreement with ACP-EU blocs, among others, as strategies to resolve the issue of Nigeria’s trade performance in the future. Therefore, objective four found that for any meaningful achievement from future trade negotiations, parliamentary administrators should be acquainted with the nuances of supranational institutions to enhance the prospects of legislating efficient trade laws. | en_US |
