African enterprises set to expand business engagements through continental trade agreement, according to the Economic Commission for Africa.
The International Trade Centre (ITC) in close collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and among other institutions have kicked off the final chapter of its Master class Series training programme.
The three-day training Export and Investment Readiness under AfCFTA immersion programme aims to assist a pipeline of viable and sustainable women and youth-owned businesses to tap into the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market of 1.3 billion people.
These African business owners are critical drivers of the Agreement and ensuring their inclusion in the implementation of the AfCFTA is essential to its success, it was indicated.
The master class is also geared to equip women and youth entrepreneurs to attract tailored finance, investment, and business linkages to meet the scale and standards of the continental market and take advantage of the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative.
“Access to investment and trade finance is a critical lever for empowering women- and youth-led businesses to seize new opportunities in exports, business, and regional value chains created through the AfCFTA,” said Mie Joergensen, Junior Professional Officer of ECA.
ECA’s session on Investment Readiness under the AfCFTA is, therefore, focused on enhancing the capacity of women- and youth-led businesses in designing compelling business cases for investment, Junior added.
According to the officer: “This will enable them to scale and meet the standards of the African market, while also creating business linkages that facilitate their participation in continental supply and value chains.”
ITC provided a clear overview of opportunities presented by the AfCFTA and how to export under the Agreement, while the ECA oriented women and youth businesses towards attracting investment and business linkages.
The Head of ITC’s SME Trade Academy, Shaun Lake, highlighted “ITC’s cooperate initiative dubbed One Trade Africa is fully committed to empowering, enhancing and enabling African MSMEs, women and youth entrepreneurs to capitalize on the AfCFTA.”
The head noted that the Agreement will not yield the desired effects without targeted and tailored trainings for Africa’s business community.
“By incorporating the modules from the ‘How to Export with the AfCFTA’ training program into the Master class Series, we are providing African businesses with the knowledge and skills necessary to advance intra-African trade.”
Given the vital importance of the AfCFTA, last year ITC launched a new corporate initiative called “One Trade Africa”. It is designed to empower, enhance, and enable African MSMEs, women and youth entrepreneurs to fully capitalize on the AfCFTA.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency