Browsing: African Continental Free Trade Area

With these kinds of benefits, the AGOA has to be improved to align with the demands of the AfCFTA. In February 2020, the US and Kenya signed the first of a kind trade agreement between the United States and a Sub-Saharan African (SSA) country.

The FTA represents the most significant innovation in US-African trade relations since the enactment of AGOA and if successfully concluded, the FTA would undoubtedly signify an important shift in US trade policy in the region.

With the reality that competition for business in Africa is heating up, the FTA is a crucial issue which the Biden administration and Congress must grapple with especially now that the AfCFTA has been operationalised. On the other hand, Africa must be wary of any external forces that would disintegrate the AfCFTA in the guise of doing business with individual countries.…

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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. …

On the brighter side, this trade potential could double if African countries address challenges in infrastructure and corruption which have continually hampered the ‘Africa rising’ narrative. 

By making Africa the world’s largest trade area, the AfCFTA is expected to further improve Africa’s bargaining power with the rest of the world. This is with regard to the quality of goods produced as well as market entry of imported goods. …

AfCFTA will diversify exports, accelerate growth and it will competitively integrate into the global economy. This will increase foreign direct investment (FDI), increase employment opportunities and incomes while also broadening economic inclusion.

Projected estimates show that the FTA will increase Africa’s exports by US$560 billion with manufacturing accounting for the lion’s share. While has had limited trade within itself, the agreement will see intra-continental exports increase by 81 per cent and by 19 per cent to non-African countries.…

Covid-19 has hit small businesses hardest and around the world, many are either still struggling or they have already shut down almost two years after the pandemic started.

The pandemic has caused large-scale loss of life and severe human suffering globally and as the largest public health crisis in our time, the pandemic has also generated a major economic crisis. 2020 saw a halt in production in affected countries, a collapse in consumption and confidence, and stock exchanges responding negatively to heightened uncertainties.

In Africa, things are no different and despite the hit by the pandemic, a June 2021 African Development Bank (AfDB) White Paper, Entrepreneurship and Free Trade: Africa’s Catalysts for a New Era of Economic Prosperity, states that entrepreneurship must be at the heart of efforts to transform Africa’s economic prospects.

Read: Why Kenya’s small businesses are choking

The Covid-19 crisis has triggered shifts that open up …

Despite significant risks related to foreign investment in 2021, some indicators point to a potential return of FDI to pre-Covid-19 levels by 2022.

Although the overall value of planned project finance and green-field investments fell considerably, a few large deals announced in 2020 signal that foreign investors are engaged despite the unfavourable investment climate…

In the years from 2014 and 2018, China was Africa’s biggest FDI source estimated at 16 per cent of all FDI into the continent. The Chinese represented the main source of FDI into the continent with the United States and France holding eight per cent of the total FDI.
With Covid-19 hitting the continent in March 2020, the cascading health and economic challenges on the continent has significantly affected FDI inflows.…

Consider everything you have heard about Africa is wrong and start on a quest to know and understand the continent better when it comes to the opportunities it has to offer. 

For anyone giving investing in Africa a wide berth, it is because of what they have heard and rarely due to what they have experienced. This will lead to missing the myriad opportunities the continent has in the different sectors where investment is badly needed.

For starters, Africa is not only the fastest-growing continent on the planet but it is also fuelled by a young and rapidly urbanizing population which will drive demand for a long time to come.…

A report launched in April 2021 on the US-Kenya trade negotiations analysing the implications for the future of the US-Africa trade relationship shows that if successful, the FTA would represent the most significant innovation in US-African trade relations since the enactment of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference programme in 2000.

With a new administration taking over in the US following an election where Trump lost to President Joe Biden, an agreement has yet to be reached. This presents the Biden administration with a decision on whether to continue negotiations with Kenya.…

The US has administered close to 300 million Covid-19 vaccine doses in comparison to the less than 50 million doses administered in the entire African continent. 

Data from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) shows that the US which is used as a benchmark by many African nations is doing far better but there are many factors favouring this including but not limited to manufacturing and transport logistics. …