President Muhammad Buhari has signed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).

The signing has just taken place at the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union on AfCFTA and the First Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities in Niamey, Niger Republic.

Buhari appended his signature to the document on Sunday.

Nigeria has become the 53rd county in Africa to sign the agreement.

Buhari accepted to sign the agreement after a Presidential panel he set up to look into the AfCFTA advised that Nigeria will benefit economically from the envisaged trade relations with other African countries.

However, the Panel noted that some negative impacts included massive smuggling that could turn Nigeria into a dumping ground for goods produced outside of Africa.