Buhari calls for Duty-Free Market for Least Developed Countries

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on developed and developing nations to grant duty-free and quota-free market access for products originating from the world’s 46 least-developed countries to ensure their integration in regional and global value chains.

The President sharply criticized the current structure of the global financial system, which places an unsustainable external debt burden on the most vulnerable countries, in a speech Monday at the UN Conference of Least Developed Countries in Doha, the capital of the State of Qatar.

He cautioned that high debt loads would make it very difficult for LDCs to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to him: ‘‘In 2015, the world came together to endorse the 2030 Agenda for Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. There was no doubt that it was highly ambitious and would require leaders around the world to be fully committed for the SDGs to be achieved within the projected timeframe.

‘‘Eight years on, the possibility of achieving the SDGs remains bleak for many countries, particularly, the Least Developed Countries. The difficulties in achieving the SDGs are numerous and were further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, the continued threat of Climate Change, and recently the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

‘‘The Least Developed Countries are often faced with developmental vulnerabilities and challenges that are not always of their making. These pose huge obstacles to their development efforts, hence the need for urgent and robust assistance to help unlock their potentials and build socio-economic resilience.

‘‘This assistance can be provided within the framework  of the Doha Programme of Action which is designed to help LDCs exit their current classification”.

President Buhari issued a challenge to developed nations, members of civil society, the private sector, and the business community to collaborate with LDCs in order to provide them with the resources and capacity needed to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for economic, social, and environmental development.

He provided a list of actions that will support LDCs in the long run as they recover from COVID-19, attain SDGs, and grow and flourish.

‘‘As a matter of urgency, there are a number of priorities we have to focus on to help achieve the SDGs in these countries and ensure their prosperity. First, COVID-19 has taught us that we must all work together, to ensure that diseases do not thrive in the LDCs, due to their overall negative impact on productivity and economic growth and development.

‘‘Accordingly, policy and budgetary provisions must be made to ensure equal access to medicare and vaccines, for both the poor and the rich alike. We must also work with manufacturers of medical equipment and pharmaceutical companies to provide adequate equipment, test-kits, vaccines and treatments for diseases.’’ he said.