Ai AfricaPLC announced and presented today, its Roadmap Report on globalizing Africa eTrade in support of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), during the Ai African Electronic Trade Leaders Roundtable on Improving African Buyer Information and eTrade Documentation, in support of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This was hosted by Africa investor (Ai) in collaboration with the AfCFTA Secretariat.
The AfCFTA and digitalization is an economic gamechanger for Africa. Digital technology can translate into tangible socio-economic change, inclusive economic growth, and job creation on the continent, as it promotes financial inclusion, facilitates trade, and solves sustainable development issues.
The AfricaPLC eTrade Roadmap Report is a call to action for the digitalization of the AfCFTA; for Africa to develop and innovate African-centric digital technology solutions that factor in socio-economic realities of the continent, including gender inequality, connectivity challenges, and access to reliable trade data.
The Report’s recommendations have been developed to exemplify how they might be implemented, with examples of digital solutions already being explored on the continent and around the world.
The recommendations are set out in five parts, with the following key points:
Part 1 provides a perspective on the future of digital trade, and how trade data can be used to inform policymaking and develop financial products and services to promote financial inclusion, as well as how the digitalization and automation of trade regulation and compliance can create trust in the market, and provide robust financial crime controls.
Part 2 canvasses the implementation of digital technology solutions in logistics and customs automation.
Part 3 suggests ways in which digitalization can safeguard the increasingly complex and regulated world of trade finance, and how innovative solutions like regulatory and supervisory technology (RegTech and SupTech) can promote trade facilitation across the AfCFTA, assisting both regulators and the regulated.
Part 4 provides a perspective on eCommerce and recommendations on boosting MSME digital trade.
Part 5 highlights investment opportunities for digital infrastructure in Africa, and how the public and private sectors can collaborate to scale digital technology solutions in finance, healthcare, and agriculture.
The AfricaPLC eTrade Roadmap Report’s call to action, follows a series of multi-stakeholder and multi-sector consultations, with a wide array of public and private sector organisations each offering rich and diverse perspectives and recommendations for a sustainable digital transformation in the implementation of the AfCFTA.
There was a unanimous agreement that the AfCFTA, as a trade and development instrument, has the potential to be Africa’s Covid economic recovery stimulus, and the most competitive free trade area in the world, alleviating millions from poverty, by enfranchising SMEs – especially women and youth – by exploiting modern secure eTrade technology, and pursuing smart partnerships with the private sector during its rollout and beyond are pivotal to accelerating its success.
Some of the key discussions within the Report unpack the following:
- Digitalization for futureproofing
- Legal reform and the right policy levers
- Overcoming the challenges of interoperability of digital platforms
- Digitalizing and harmonizing customs procedures
- Regulatory transformation to attract more FDI into Africa
- Digital infrastructure development
- Trade data as infrastructure
- RegTech & Regulation as a Stimulus (RaaS)
The Report was presented to H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, by Hubert Danso, CEO and Chairman Africa investor (Ai) AfricaPLC, during the Ai African Electronic Trade Leaders Roundtable. Participating Secretary Generals at the Roundtable included, John Denton, Secretary General, ICC; Vinco David, Secretary General, Berne Union; Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General, World Customs Organization (WCO); and Peter Mulroy, Secretary General, FCI Association.
During the high-level roundtable, AiAfricaPLC also launched AiAfricaPLC TradeDocs, its electronic certificates of origin platform for Chambers of Commerce, Regional Organisations, Customs Authorities, Authorizing Bodies, Exporters and Freight Forwarders, and AiAfricaPLC Insights, which assists traders, banks and export credit agencies and insurers, conduct due diligence, evaluate supply chain governance and analyze commercial data from its database of 10 million African SMEs.
Africa’s digital trade facilitation and digital transformation are quintessential to the continent’s participation, and success in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
AfricaPLC, as an innovative, fully integrated, and secure B2B and B2G multi-sector, industrial eTrade marketplace and FinTech platform, have important perspectives on how the AfCFTA can assist African economies leapfrog decades of development, in the wake of this health and economic tragedy. We therefore see this as a watershed moment, to innovate new products and generate and document our eTrade digitalization insights, that could support public and private sector policy breakthroughs. – Hubert Danso, Chairman, Ai AfricaPLC
Mr Danso went on to say, “We look forward to working with public and private stakeholders, to increase the AfCFTA’s global competitiveness, through the creation of modern digital trade corridors, powered by ‘supply chains of the future’, driven by forward-looking regulation and eTrade marketplaces that enfranchise African SMEs.”
Read the full Report here or on www.africaplc.com.
For more information contact : Wendy Edwards – Email: wedwards@africainvestor.com
About Ai AfricaPLC – Globalizing Africa eTrade
AfricaPLC, the eTrade platform of Africa investor (Ai), is an innovative, B2B and B2G multi-sector, industrial eTrade Marketplace and FinTech platform, focused on improving intra-African trade flows, cross border payments, supply chain transparency, logistics and access to trade intelligence and global markets.
AfricaPLC provides, secure and easy to use transaction platforms and is continuously innovating blockchain and RegTech trade enabling solutions, to assist facilitate our clients and partners digitally originate, transact, track and settle B2B and B2G transactions across the African continent and worldwide.
AfricaPLC is committed to connecting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with global markets, by simplifying cross-border trade and procurement transactions for SMEs, large businesses, financial institutions and African governments.
