AfCFTA: SMEs in cocoa, coffee industries, other sectors sensitised on exporting

The International Trade Centre through its ‘One Trade Africa Initiative, Alliances for Action (A4A) programme’ in Ghana and SME Trade Academy together with Afreximbank and ECOWAS Commission jointly organised a workshop on exporting in Accra.

Ghana is one of just over ten countries already trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as part of the pilot Guided Trade Initiative.

The four-day event dubbed “How to Export with the AfCFTA” had a training trainers’ component, and a small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) training aspect, on July 18-19.

The capacity-building exercise was held for SMEs mainly in the cocoa and coffee sector. SMEs representing other sectors such as beauty/cosmetics and fashion, also participated. The aim was to equip participants with knowledge on leveraging the myriad opportunities presented by the AfCFTA.

The workshop exposed the participants to the peculiarities and opportunities of the African market and the huge opportunities therein to access new markets within Africa, within the horizon of intra-Africa trade.

Ms. Regina Hammond, International Trade Centre’s AfCFTA Liaison Advisor applauded the collaborative effort of ITC, Afreximbank and the ECOWAS Commission in organising this workshop to equip trainers with knowledge and skills and empower SMEs to practically trade under AfCFTA preferences.

Mr Ismael AMADOU TIDJANI, Trade Facilitation Expert, ECOWAS Commission highlighted that this initiative aligns with the ECOWAS new Vision 2050 and the Regional Strategy for Implementation of the AfCFTA which places women and youth empowerment as a catalyst to accelerate growth and job creation in the region.

During the training, the participants were sensitised on the fundamentals of intra-Africa trade and how to add value to their goods to meet the demands of the African market and connect to businesses outside the country.

Divine Kutortse, the Programme’s Manager in charge of enterprise support and trade in finance at the Ghana National AfCFTA Coordination Office, acknowledged the existence of a huge market opportunity for Ghanaian coffee and cocoa product makers in the African market and provided comprehensive information on how Ghanaian businesses can fully utilise this opportunity.

Divine Kutortse mentioned value addition and cooperation among stakeholders in the cocoa and coffee sectors as major steps for Ghanaian businesses to break into other countries.

He added that “AfCFTA seeks to remove duties and non-tariff barriers, but if traders don’t know the industry and how to search for new markets, we may not be able to realize the full benefit of the AfCFTA.

Larry Attipoe, National Coordinator for the International Trade Centre’s Alliances for Action value chain work in Ghana, noted that the workshop would equip the participants with knowledge and skills to navigate the challenges that come with exporting their products.

“We want to support SMEs to overcome the challenges that confront them if they want to get into global value chains. We know that’s where the value is, so we want to remove all those barriers. The AfCFTA has created opportunities for companies who want to go beyond the boundaries of Ghana, but they need to know the rules and potential challenges, and the workshop aimed to expose them to that and give them practical tools to navigate.

“We also want them to learn the details and rules of specific countries. The workshop is to get them ready for when they want to cross the border and get their products to other countries. We are all united and committed to helping the SMEs cross boundaries and meet the demands on the continent.

Wisdom Tawiah, who represented the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), reiterated his outfit’s commitment to the promotion of intra-African trade.

He encouraged the participants to put into practice the lessons from the workshop and help position Ghanaian businesses as leaders in the cocoa and coffee marketing sector.

Some of the participants who spoke to the press expressed happiness with the workshop, which they described as informative and transformational. They promised to put into action what they gleaned from the conference and take advantage of the AfCFTA to expand their businesses and operations.

The “How to Export with the AfCFTA” national workshops are being rolled out across the ECOWAS region and the continent more broadly, to equip small businesses to take maximum advantage of intra-African trade and market opportunities.

ITC and Afreximbank have also established a complementary free online training platform which has trained over 10,000 SMEs.

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