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.
Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesman in a statement, said Buhari, who made the call in Doha, Qatar, at the UN Conference of Least Developed Countries, maintained that this had become imperative to ensure their integration in regional and global value chains.
The president strongly criticized the current structure of the global financial system which places an unsustainable external debt burden on the most vulnerable countries.
He warned that such debt burdens would make it extremely difficult for LDCs to meet the 2030 Agenda for Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs.
‘‘In 2015, the world came together to endorse the 2030 Agenda for Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.
‘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,” said Buhari.
The President commended the State of Qatar for hosting the Conference and thanked Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir, for inviting him.
He also expressed appreciation to the UN for its excellent organisation of the conference and its continued support for the LDCs.
The president also explained his presence at the conference despite the fact that Nigeria is not categorised as one of the Least Developed Countries.
‘‘Nigeria is here to show solidarity and support to the LDCs in the quest to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in this decade of action, where no one should be left behind,’’ he said.
