Regional lobby moves to boost intra-African trade

Arusha. The East African Business Council (EABC) has entered into a $ 178,530 partnership with Afreximbank to foster intra-African trade.

The initiative will largely focus on trade promotion within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

Under it, deliberate efforts would be made to engage the private sector in trade facilitation and in unlocking new business opportunities in the East African region.

The strategic partnership aims to raise awareness among the business fraternity in the East African bloc on how to maximize opportunities under AfCFTA.

The partnership, backstopped with a $178,530 grant from Afreximbank, was announced in Kampala early this week during the EABC-Afreximbank AfCFTA workshop.

The grant will enable the Arusha-based EABC to carry out crucial awareness initiatives and in-depth research that will empower businesses to harness the immense potential of the continental trade.

The event was organised to sensitize the women and youth-run small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on the existing opportunities under the AfCFTA trade regime.

EABC executive director, Mr John Bosco Kalisa urged the East African Community (EAC) states to put in place a conducive business environment for the youth.

This, he explained, will make them more innovative, hence drive economic integration agenda within the seven nation bloc and Africa in general.

He said signs were clear that the AfCFTA agreement puts women and youth in the driving seat of Africa’s integration.

The CEO of the apex body of private sector associations said some EAC member states have shown capacity in promoting entrepreneurship.

These are Rwanda and Kenya which, according to him, are ranked second and fourth in terms of entrepreneurship in Africa.

Through the grant, the EABC and Afreximbak will roll out a series of sensitisation workshops to raise awareness among SMEs and women in business about AfCFTA protocols and their significance for business growth.

Such workshops will focus on trade facilitation procedures and strategies to access markets effectively under the AfCFTA trade regime.

EABC board member Mrs. Pheona Wall said systemic barriers continue to hinder the participation of women and youth in policy formulation in Africa despite their large number.

A Ugandan government official responsible for technological research and innovation, Mr Okot Okeello Richard said AfCFTA will open markets for goods and services among African countries.

He regretted that intra-Africa trade remains as low as 15 percent compared to other economic communities, attributing it to deficiencies in logistics.

 He cited that exports of batteries from one of the EAC partner states to Ghana under AfCFTA-guided trade initiative took three months while the same consignment from China took two weeks.

“This underscores the need for the EAC region to relook at the time and costs of logistics and prioritise trading of low-volume, high-value products, as well as the establishment of national trading companies to support the bulking of consignments,” he said.