AfCFTA Secretariat & YALDA Answer Your Burning Qs
The Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA) + Other Partners Have Developed a Short Course To Help You Leverage AfCFTA to Grow Your Business
The AfCFTA Secretariat, in collaboration with several partners, has created an AfCFTA short course to help you leverage AfCFTA to grow your business across the continent.
The partners include
Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA)
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
International Trade Center (ITC)
United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Africa Export-Import Bank (Afrexim)
The classes will run for six months (May to October), with one class per month. At the end, participants who attend five out of the six classes will receive a certificate.
As the AfCFTA-obsessed girl that I am, I signed up and attended the first class on 29th May. The speakers included:
Florence Mulenga Sinyangwe (Women and Trade Expert, AfCFTA Secretariat)
Aiche Sy Magueye (Young Professional, Women, Youth, and SMEs Division (AfCFTA Secretariat)
Gonaya Monei Sethora (Youth and Trade Expert, AfCFTA Secretariat)
My favorite session was the Q&A. Here are some incredible questions raised and the informative answers the speakers gave. They will help you get started on your AfCFTA journey.
What Do I Do About The Many NTBs I Encounter as a Young Trader?
The AfCFTA Secretariat has created a Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) reporting mechanism. You can report NTBs so that member states are brought to book or compelled to address them.
A reporting mechanism is a platform that allows traders to file complaints about any trade obstacle they encounter while moving goods and services across the border.
After receiving the complaint, the Secretariat will alert agents, who will confirm and work to address the issue.
How Do You Report Trade Barriers?
Access the website at (https://tradebarriers.africa) and choose your preferred language.
Register by filling out your email and details.
A confirmation link will be sent to your email. Click it to confirm your email.
Go back to the website https://tradebarriers.africa and log in with your newly created email and password.
Select “Report an NTB online” and complete the form with as much detail as possible.
Click submit
How Do I Access Opportunities That Help Young People & Women in Trade?
Make a habit of visiting the AfCFTA website ( https://au-afcfta.org/), where various opportunities such as events, symposiums, and trade fairs are often posted.
The website is available in all the languages spoken on the continent (English, Kiswahili, Portuguese, Arabic, and French).
The AfCFTA Secretariat has partnered with organizations such as UNDP, ITC, AfreximBank, and UNECA to offer increased trade support. Following these organizations on social media or through their websites will give you access to more opportunities.
How Do I Make Sure I’m Benefitting From AfCFTA as a Trader?
Member states that have ratified the protocol have a list of all the goods and services eligible for preferential trade access, which means zero or reduced tariffs.
At a national level, could you engage with your trade organizations to discover the goods and services that fall under the AfCFTA market liberalization?
If the goods you manufacture are not listed, you will have to pay the total price, which means you will not enjoy the AfCFTA advantages.
In Kenya, that organization is the State Department for Trade, Ministry of Investments, Trade & Industry. Find your country’s equivalent to access the information that you need.
Can I Enjoy The AfCFTA Benefits as a Trader in Ivory Coast?
Yes, Ivory Coast has signed and ratified the agreement. Ratification is approval by the country’s internal procedures.
It means the country’s parliament has discussed the agreement and agreed to be legally bound by it.
54 African countries have signed the agreement (Only Eritrea hasn’t), and 47 countries have already ratified it. The seven that have not ratified are:
Madagascar
Liberia
Benin
Libya
Sudan
South Sudan
Somalia
What Does Rules of Origin Under AfCFTA Mean?
These are the rules that govern where a product or service originates.
When a product is being developed, a level or threshold must be met to prove it is made in Africa.
This is to prevent the AfCFTA from benefiting third parties. For example, someone can import a product from China and then export it to various African countries, claiming it is made in Africa. That would benefit China rather than African manufacturers.
The more significant component of your goods or services must be made in Africa to prevent this. Otherwise, it will not meet the Rules of Origin, and you will not be able to export it under the AfCFTA.
How Can Young People and Women in Trade Access Financial Assistance?
By engaging with national finance and banking institutions. The AfCFTA Secretariat is working with African banks to encourage them to offer innovative trade financing options.
For example, in Ghana, the Eco Bank has said that since they know many women do not have land to use as collateral, they will use book records. If you have good records of your financial books, you can access loans to boost your trade efforts.
This is also a lesson about keeping good records as a trader, which might be useful when looking for finances.
Final Word
The class ended with the final words from the three presenters.
Thank you for reading Africa: Not an Afterthought, where we lead the conversation on how Africa can leverage technology, trade (AfCFTA), regional integration, and panAfricanism to build a continent that is not an afterthought.
The information shared is very useful