Aluko & Oyebode International Trade Practice Group is pleased to announce a one-day discourse on the “Threats and Opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement” on Tuesday, 21 March 2023.
We will be discussing practical and theoretical issues arising under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA). There will also be high-level discussions on policies and regulations required to promote and increase intra-African trade under AfCFTA.
Join us as we discuss practical issues arising under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), including high-level discussions on policies and regulations required to promote and increase intra-African trade under AfCFTA.
RSVP
Find profile for Speakers below:
Click on names to find profile for Mark Mordi SAN | Tonye Krukrubo SAN | Luisa Cetina | Daniel Ngumy | Meluleki Nzimande
Francis Anatogu
Francis Anatogu is the Chief Executive of Transaharan Limited. Until recently, he was the Senior Special Assistant to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Public Sector Matters and the Secretary of the Nigeria’s National Action Committee on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). In that role, he coordinated the establishment of Nigeria National Action Committee for the implementation of the AfCFTA and championed the development of Nigeria’s strategy for the implementation of the AfCFTA.
He was also the Secretary of the Presidential Committee that conducted ‘Impact and Readiness Assessment’ and stakeholder engagements that resulted in Nigeria joining the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Prior to joining the public sector, he advised organizations in the energy and communications sectors on strategy, operations improvement, and project management.
Francis started his career in the oil and gas sector with several international organisations in diverse roles across the exploration and production value chain around the world.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and an MBA from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
He currently advises businesses and governments seeking access to international markets.
Jonathan Adeyemi Aremu
Jonathan Adeyemi Aremu, is a Professor of International Economic Relations; and a former Acting Vice Chancellor of the Covenant University (CU), Ota, Nigeria. He is also a Consultant, at ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) on Common Investment Market (ECIM), Abuja. Aremu started a successful career at Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) where he rose from Assistant Economist in 1980 to become the Acting Assistant Director of Research before voluntarily retiring in December 1992.
At national level, Aremu was among the experts appointed by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2012 to develop a Trade Policy for implementation in Nigeria; in October, 2018 he was a Member of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on the Nigeria Impact and Readiness Assessment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and currently a Member of the National Action Committee (NAC) on AfCFTA. Aremu was appointed as the National Consultant of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) that developed the AfCFTA National Strategy for Nigeria. He was also a Coordinator in one of the main Technical Working Groups established by the Federal Government that developed the National Development Plan 2021-2050.
In ECOWAS Region, Aremu was appointed by European Union (EU) as the Monitoring Expert for the preparation of an ECOWAS Investment Guarantee /Reinsurance Mechanism; and the Financial Expert that drafted ECOWAS Common Investment Code and Policy by European Union. He is the Lead Consultant on the Common Investment Market (ECIM), to coordinate the establishment of ECOWAS Payments and Settlement System, ECOWAS Capital Market Integration, Common Investment Code and Policy, among others till present. He was a Member of ECOWAS Tax Harmonization Committee, Expert that conducted the Study on ECOWAS Trade in Services Policy Review, assisted by UNCTAD (published 2020), and he is equally providing Technical Assistance to the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI) activities. Aremu was an expert appointed by GIZ to provide capacity building to both ECOWAS Commission and the Member States in the negotiation of AfCFTA Investment Protocol with other African Member States.
At Continental and International levels, Aremu was the National Coordinator/Country Team Leader of UNIDO Investment Survey in Nigeria in 2009-2012; Member of the technical experts that developed the Pan African Investment Code (PAIC) to be used in the development of Investment Protocol in AfCFTA; and Member of the Technical Working Group of the AfCFTA Unit of African Union (AU) towards the development of the Investment Protocol of the AfCFTA.
Professionally, Aremu is a life member of both the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) since 1990 as well as Nigerian Society of International Law (NSIL) since 1998; a member of Nigerian Institute of International Affairs since 1993; and the current Facilitator of Trade, Investment and Competitiveness Commission of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). Prof Aremu is also currently a Member of the Editorial Board of Canadian Institute for International Law Expertise (CIFILE), Toronto.
Oluseye Alayande
Oluseye Alayande is the Group Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary of BUA Group, a leading foods, infrastructure, mining and manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Nigeria with diversified investments spanning key business sectors of the African economy. She possesses over 20 years’ of rich comprehensive experience in the legal profession across diverse areas of law and within various national and multinational organizations. She is an accomplished, progressive and seasoned lawyer with exceptional leadership abilities and relevant expertise that is channeled towards consistently delivering fully compliant services within diverse and demanding regulatory environments.
Prior to joining BUA in January 2021, she worked as the Chief Legal Officer & Company Secretary of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Deputy General Counsel of Afren Nigeria, Senior General Counsel of Afren Nigeria and Legal Manager of Sahara Group Limited to name a few; and has been involved in numerous cross jurisdictional transactions within West and East Africa. Notably, she led the BUA legal advisory team on the US$200 million facility advanced by the Africa Finance Corporation to BUA- an epoch-making deal which received the 2022 African Banker Awards deal of the year award in Agriculture.
She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (UK Chapter) and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators. She is very passionate about the African economy and the development of fair and efficient markets through policies on investment, competition, e-commerce, and intellectual property rights.
Seun Ogundolapo
With over 21 years cross-sector experience in Trade Operations, International Trade Finance, Transactional Banking and Transaction Structuring, Seun is a seasoned banker who has worked in both local and international banks.
Asides core banking, he has also been involved in capacity building and training for both staff and clients of the organisations he has worked in. From 2008 till date, Seun has held roles in both Products and Sales.
A graduate of Management and Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University, he proceeded to the Swiss Business School where he was awarded a Masters In Business Administration (MBA) in June 2019.
Seun is also an associate member of various professional bodies including the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS). In 2011, he was admitted as a stockbroker licensed to trade on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
Tola Onayemi
Adetola Onayemi, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Norebase, a company with a single digital infrastructure for businesses to start, scale and operate in any African country. He formerly served as assistant chief negotiator for Nigeria and Head of the trade remedies at the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN), where he led portions of the technical negotiations for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement – an agreement that makes Africa one market for trade and services. He was also co-founder and general counsel at Future Africa, an early-stage venture fund that invests in mission-driven founders turning Africa’s most difficult challenges to global businesses.
In the first quarter of 2021 alone, Future Africa invested $3 million in 13 African start-ups. He is one of Africa’s top technology lawyers and has advised over 100 businesses in and outside Africa. He also designed the trade remedies infrastructure for Nigeria and within four (4) years, set-up two (2) of Nigeria’s pivotal policy mechanisms – the Nigerian office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) and the enabling business environment secretariat (EBES). Prior to the NOTN, Tola served as special assistant on industry, trade and investment in the office of the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Thanks to these efforts, Nigeria moved up 24 ranks in the World Bank global 2018 ease of doing business ranking. Adetola is also the winner of the future Africa awards (TFAA) 2019 prize in public service.
