Browsing: African Continental Free Trade Area

• President Sisi says Africa’s vast natural resources and its agricultural, educational, and mineral potential should be leveraged to drive intra-African trade.
• We in Egypt should always build, develop, rebuild, and cooperate in these fields, and nothing less: President Sisi.
• At the ongoing IATF2023, in Cairo, Sisi notes that there is a need for African nations to cooperate positively towards mutual growth.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, while participating in the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) in Cairo, called on countries across the continent to consolidate their efforts and promote intra-African trade.

In an address at the Presidential Summit of the trade fair, Sisi stated that Africa’s vast natural resources and its agricultural, educational, and mineral potential should be leveraged to drive intra-African trade. He added that there is a need for African nations to cooperate positively towards mutual growth.

Intra-African trade fostering regional partnerships

“As you can see, the …

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is now widely touted as the African Union’s (AU) most audacious project. The framework ties together the most significant number of member countries of any trade agreement since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995.

The AfCFTA had become topical even before its formal launch. Members of the business community eagerly awaited the full implementation of the AfCFTA. But two years since its formal launch, how far has the AfCFTA ushered in the ‘new era’ of African integration it promised?…

• An infusion of new investments and regulatory transformations is shaping financial interactions and digital payments in Africa.
• Africa’s digital payments operations produced around $24 billion in revenue in 2020, comprising domestic and cross-border payments.
• For Africa’s digital transition to run smoothly, a cohesive environment that ensures investment and funding remains necessary.

Human commerce constantly seeks more efficient exchange mediums, and this innovation is currently intensifying. Consequently, how individuals pay for products and services has changed dramatically in the 21st century. Digital payments in Africa are gradually replacing cash, and cryptocurrencies and virtual currencies have lately emerged as substitutes for conventional money concepts.

Africa has kept up with, and in some instances led, technological advancement. An infusion of new investments and regulatory transformations is shaping financial interactions and digital payments in Africa. Cash remains king in Africa. However, research indicates that its dominance may be challenged in the future years as …

• African Development Bank tells Japanese investors putting their money in the continent is profitable.
•  Japan’s Foreign Direct Investments in Africa declined from $10 billion in 2016 to just $4.7 billion in 2020 during Covid-19, before picking up to $6 billion in 2021.
•  According to AfDB, Africa accounts for only 0.003 percent of Japan’s $2 trillion global Foreign Direct Investments.
• Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced during the TICAD 8 Summit in Tunis last year $30 billion for Africa, including support for startups.

Africa is keen to increase Japanese investment in the continent, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has indicated amid growing interest from other countries including China, Europe and the US.

The move comes after a slump in Japan’s Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in Africa, which declined from $10 billion in 2016 to just $4.7 billion in 2020 during Covid-19, before picking to $6 billion in 2021.

According to AfDB, …

The rising commodity prices, surging inflationary pressures, and the contracting global financial situation have risked African trade and production capabilities. Moreover, the rising threat of sovereign defaults poses a severe risk to the growth of African trade. Thus, African trade prospects remain unclear, considering the challenging global economic scenario.

The Covid-19, energy and food shortages have hit with the countries having minimal or no policy space to respond. As a result, African countries have fallen into a real risk of debt distress and even possibilities for sovereign debt default.…

For starters, this is good news for the landlocked countries. It means that the landlocked countries in the EAC including Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan now have another coastal gateway away from the East African one in Kenya and Tanzania.

In addition, all the partner states have better bargaining power when it comes to trading with other blocs on the continent or internationally.
With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the deal gets even sweeter.

Continent-wide, fully implementing the AfCFTA will increase intra-African trade with the elimination of duties. Projections show that by just reducing non-tariff barriers (NTBs), intra-African trade could double.…