To date, trade within the continent is at only 14%, much as the export potential is $22 billion. The AfCFTA aims to change all that, and with a market of 1.3 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of $3.4 trillion, one of the key indicators of the treaty's success will be whether the MSMEs that power the continent's economy can use the once-in-a-generation accord to its full potential.

This, however, presents several challenges: while over 50% of African MSMEs surveyed have told ITC that are still learning about the agreement, even those businesses that are aware of it face an uphill climb in obtaining the necessary skills, finance, resources, and connections to use it fully. If achieved, however, the results could be transformative, especially for delivering on the African Union's Agenda 2063, which maps out Africa's sustainable development priorities and how to get there over the coming decades.

For several years, ITC has been working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and other AU partners under its One Trade Africa initiative to support MSMEs across Africa as they prepare for what the AfCFTA could mean for them, while engaging with policymakers and business ecosystem players on what opportunities the trade accord could open for developing priority value chains, creating jobs for women and youth, improving food security, and more.

These efforts all came together in November 2023, when ITC brought a large delegation of small businesses to Cairo, Egypt, for the Intra-African Trade Fair hosted by the African-Export Import Bank. The goal? To showcase at Africa's largest continental trade fair the breadth and depth of what the AfCFTA has to offer small businesses, while hearing from MSMEs about what they will need most as the treaty's implementation picks up steam.

ITC brought two dozen MSMEs to the fair, who came from nine African countries and who work in sectors ranging from agriculture to textiles and clothing to services. These visiting MSMEs also had the chance to take part in study tours to other parts of Egypt to see chocolate, onion, and mango production in action, along with taking part in business-to-business and business-to government activities.

'We used to go far away from Africa to export, to work with [others], and I think that maybe it would be easier for us to work with African companies. And I think that this is a good place to be, to learn what African companies are doing and see what we can do together,' said Sylvie Sagbo Gommard, the CEO of Senegal-based company Senar, who took part in the AfCFTA Export Readiness Masterclass.

With the 2023 IATF in the rearview mirror, participating MSMEs are now looking at how they can use what they learned in their daily work.

'After my participation in the IATF fair, I noticed a lot of things to be done in terms of modernizing the agricultural sector in Togo.' Thomas Kossi Garfo, TIC TOGO

'In the coming days, I will submit to GIZ a business plan which will bring together more than 3,000 Togolese cooperatives on a marketplace.'

As this work continues, another priority will be ensuring that these small businesses, as they get ready to trade more closely with their counterparts within Africa, are also well-placed to export their goods and services further afield and tap into diaspora linkages, such as to the Caribbean. ITC research shows, for instance, that the untapped export potential of African-Caribbean trade is over $1 billion, covering sectors from agrifood to tourism.

• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Mail
• Copy URL