Buhari signed the agreement 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.

The president signed the agreement at exactly 10:48am on Sunday, July 7, 2019.

Nigeria is now the 53rd country to sign the agreement in Africa.

President Muhammadu Buhari signed the agreement following the recommendations of the panel he set up to look into the AfCFTA.

The panel was said to have advised that would benefit economically from the envisaged trade relations with other African countries, Punch reports

AfCFTA is a trade agreement between AU member states with the goal of creating a single market followed by free movement and a single-currency union.