Browsing: AfCFTA

Africa is a busy geopolitical arena, with many players operating.
Russia has to compete against them, and distinctively remain focused its efforts. Russia welcomes diplomatic support from African countries, and unlike the West, it does not demand good governance or advocate for human rights reforms.
Russia likes to portray itself as not interfering in local politics or judging African countries, even though there is mounting evidence that it has been involved in meddling in elections in Africa through disinformation, fake news and attempting to exploit fault lines in societies through social media.…

• The AfCFTA agreement will boost East Africa’s manufactured exports to the rest of Africa
• Textiles & clothing exports will increase by 100% under the agreement
• Experts have recommended the rolling out of private sector sensitization campaigns on the AfCFTA

East African Community (EAC) partner states have been urged to finalize and submit tariff offers under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) to enable the bloc to tap into the 1.3 billion continental markets with a Gross Domestic Product of USD 3 trillion.

In a statement, the East African Business Council Vice Chairman Denis said the AfCFTA is set to boost East Africa’s manufactured exports to the rest of Africa.

In particular, textiles & clothing exports will increase by 100%, heavy manufacturing by 63%, light manufacturing by 61%, processed food by 54% while livestock & meat products by 39%.

Karera said that the political will to duly implement the …

The Ghana.gov platform also serves the digitization and revenue-collection needs of other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs)

As of mid-July, 2021, about 624,000 users have logged in to pay for 37 government services, comprising taxes, levies, royalties and stamp duties, directly into Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) accounts. …

The government of Tanzania is working on a blue print to increase sell of the country’s agro-produce by setting up bonded warehouses in foreign markets in a bid to boost sells.

The bonded warehouses will for starters be piloted in China and Saudi Arabia and are expected to ease access to markets for agro-produce.

Well first things first. What is a bonded warehouse? These are building or other secured areas in which dutiable goods may be stored or even manufacturing without payment of duty.

Bonded warehouses provide specialized storage services such as deep freezers for perishables as well as bulk liquid storage. They also allow for commodity processing and make up an integral part of the global supply chain by giving the importer opportunity to bring in raw goods, process, package and then sell the final …

On 1 January 2021, trade began within the African Continental Free Trade Area (‘AfCFTA’). After years of preparation, and being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AfCFTA becomes the largest free trade area in the world based on the number of participating countries since the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) was formed and connects some 1.3 billion people across the African continent.

Among many other key developments under the AfCFTA, member states have agreed to remove 90 per cent of tariff lines on non–sensitive products within five years for developing countries and within ten years for least developed countries.

The AfCFTA seeks to provide member states a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement that aims to boost intra-African trade. As noted by the World Bank, “[a]s the global economy is in turmoil due to the COVID-19 pandemic, creation of the vast AfCFTA regional market serves as a major opportunity to …

The largest global free trade area by countries is poised to transform Africa’s economic prospects and it could not have come at a more interesting time.

For reasons I won’t get into in this article, the world has witnessed a tremendous rise in populism, protectionism and nationalism. Popular choices in key economies have shifted the status quo bringing into question well-established political and economic powerhouses. With the arrival of the pandemic, trust in governments across the world has diminished and weak leaders in developed economies have found theirselves exposed.

In my view, these elements ironically created a perfect storm for the launch of AfCFTA, the African Continental Free Trade Area. Global trade is going through deep changes either for fears of infection or due to concepts of self economic preservation in smaller developed countries. Border enforcement across the world is shifting on a daily basis and there’s a real …

In recent history virtually every continent and economic block has been trying to establish common trade area agreements as well as political unions. Africa is no different –SADC, ECA, COMESA, ECOWAS and SACU are just some of the examples of African countries trying to collaborate to drive the many aspects of social and economic development.

It is a system and an idea that promises to accelerate inclusion and promote regional prosperity among neighbours and the AfCFTA (The African Continental Free Trade Area) is rapidly becoming the embodiment of that reality – 28 African countries operating as a free trade area. As expected from an agreement of this magnitude, few people fully understand its complexity and intricacies.

FurtherAfrica spoke to one of AfCFTA’s strongest advocates. Mark-Anthony Johnson, CEO of JIC Holdings – an investment, trading and acquisition entity focused in Africa and emerging economies with roots back to 1985. Mark’s JIC …

Africa is great and has the potential to be greater—economically. The youngest continent in the world stands to garner billions in the trade as its youngest generation present a potential to transform, the continent’s economic pillars, from agriculture to investment.

The region has more than 1.3 people and nearly 60 per cent of its population is under 25 years, according to United Nations Data for World Population Prospects 2017. This means that Africa can fetch healthy intra-regional and international trade growth if it utilizes its existing potentials.

As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is around the corner to be domesticated (postponed due to virus outbreak), the trade pact could ignite Africa’s industrialization and boost income generation.

The trade pact connects more than 1.3 billion Africans in 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product of nearly $ 3.4 trillion while lifting more than 30 million people from extreme …