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<p>Despite the huge growth in smartphone adoption and increasing demand for digital banking, majority of countries here on the continent remain heavily dependent on cash. Suzan Kereere, Visa’s Head of Global Merchant Client Group joins CBNC Africa for more.</p>


Visa’s Suzan Kereere on the role of digital payments in boosting intra-African trade


<p>NIAMEY (Reuters) &#8211; African leaders met on Sunday to launch a continental free-trade zone that if successful would unite 1.3 billion people, create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development.</p>



<p>After four years of talks, an agreement to form a 55-nation trade bloc was reached in March, paving the way for Sunday’s African Union summit in Niger where attendees will unveil which nation will host the trade zone’s headquarters, when trading will start and discuss how exactly it will work.</p>



<p>It is hoped that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) &#8211; the largest since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994 &#8211; will help unlock Africa’s long-stymied economic potential by boosting intra-regional trade, strengthening supply chains and spreading expertise.</p>



<p>“The eyes of the world are turned to Africa,” Egyptian President and African Union Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said at the summit’s opening ceremony.</p>



<p>AfCFTA “will reinforce our negotiating position on the international stage. It will represent an important step.”</p>



<p>Africa has much catching up to do: its intra-regional trade accounted for just 17% of exports in 2017 versus 59% in Asia and 69% in Europe, and Africa has missed out on the economic booms that other trade blocs have experienced in recent decades.</p>



<p>Economists say significant challenges remain, including poor road and rail links, large areas of unrest, excessive border bureaucracy and petty corruption that have held back growth and integration.</p>



<p>Members have committed to eliminate tariffs on most goods, which will increase trade in the region by 15-25% in the medium term, but this would double if these other issues were dealt with, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates.</p>



<p>The IMF in a May report described a free-trade zone as a potential “economic game changer” of the kind that has boosted growth in Europe and North America, but it added a note of caution.</p>



<p>“Reducing tariffs alone is not sufficient,” it said.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">&nbsp;DIVERGENT INTERESTS</h3>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Africa already has an alphabet soup of competing and overlapping trade zones &#8211; ECOWAS in the west, EAC in the east, SADC in the south and COMESA in the east and south.</p>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But only the EAC, driven mainly by Kenya, has made significant progress towards a common market in goods and services.</p>



<p>These regional economic communities (REC) will continue to trade among themselves as they do now. The role of AfCFTA is to liberalise trade among those member states that are not currently in the same REC, said Trudi Hartzenberg, director at Tralac, a South Africa-based trade law organisation.</p>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The zone’s potential clout received a boost on Tuesday when Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, agreed to sign the agreement at the summit. Benin has also since agreed to join. Fifty-four of the continent’s 55 states have signed up, but only 25 have ratified.</p>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One obstacle in negotiations will be the countries’ conflicting motives.</p>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For undiversified but relatively developed economies like Nigeria, which relies heavily on oil exports, the benefits of membership will likely be smaller than others, said John Ashbourne, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.</p>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Nigerian officials have expressed concern that the country could be flooded with low-priced goods, confounding efforts to encourage moribund local manufacturing and expand farming.</p>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In contrast, South Africa’s manufacturers, which are among the most developed in Africa, could quickly expand outside their usual export markets and into West and North Africa, giving them an advantage over manufacturers from other countries, Ashbourne said.</p>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The presidents of both countries are attending the summit.</p>



<p>The vast difference in countries’ economic heft is another complicating factor in negotiations. Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa account for over 50% of Africa’s cumulative GDP, while its six sovereign island nations represent about 1%.</p>



<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“It will be important to address those disparities to ensure that special and differential treatments for the least developed countries are adopted and successfully implemented,” said Landry Signe, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative.</p>



<p>Regulations governing rules of origin, removal of non-tariff barriers and the development of a payments and settlements system are expected to be unveiled at the summit.</p>



<p>Reporting by Boureima Balima, Alessandra Prentice; Additional reporting by Alexander Winning and Edward Mcallister; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Edward Mcallister and Dale Hudson</p>


African leaders launch free-trade zone, what you need to know about this potential economic “game changer”

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<p>African Export-Import Bank has been providing finance to African focused trade initiatives for 26 years. They now have 13.5 billion dollars in assets under management and are looking to build intra-African trade. Director and Global Head of Trade finance Gwen Mwaba spoke to CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kopano Gumbi about the banks strategy and their plans to bring their trade seminar to Durban in November.</p>


Afreximbank plans to bring their trade seminar to Durban

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<p>On the side-lines of the on-going Intra-Africa Trade Forum in Egypt, CNBC Africa’s Christy Cole caught up with Olukayode Pitan, Managing Director of the Bank of Industry and he spoke on the strategies to managing statistical discrepancies in intra-African Trade.</p>


Managing discrepancies in intra-Africa trade

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<p>The Tony Elumelu Foundation has championed and made real investment in African entrepreneurs across the continent. Speaking to CNBC Africa at today&#8217;s Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo, founder Tony Elumelu highlighted the importance of cross-continental collaboration.</p>


Tony Elumelu urges strong support for Africa’s entrepreneurs

<p>The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has identified intra-African trade as a critical factor for unlocking Africa’s trade potential. Ms. Kanayo Awani, Managing Director of the Bank’s Intra-African Trade Initiative, says a lack of access to trade and market information is one of the key reasons for the low level of intra-African trade. Although the share of intra-African trade as a percentage of total African trade has increased from 10% in 1995 to around 15% currently, it remains low compared to the levels in Europe (59%), Asia (51%), and North America (37%). Historically, African countries are more familiar with markets in Europe and America than they are with those in neighbouring countries, resulting in the all too common phenomenon of manufacturers sourcing materials from outside the continent when they could access the same materials more cheaply from within.</p>
<p>The inaugural Intra-African Trade Fair 2018 is a key intervention aimed at boosting regional trade in Africa and will be the biggest gathering of buyers and sellers on the continent, with 1,000 exhibitors and more than 70,000 visitors expected. One of the key objectives of the IATF is to provide a platform for exchange of trade information. To facilitate this, a Trade Finance Conference will run parallel to the trade fair. Experts from across the continent and beyond will be speaking at the conference, which will bring stakeholders from industry and government agencies together to find solutions to the obstacles hampering regional trade. The Conference will also provide a platform for networking and setting up of strategic partnerships.</p>
<p>The IATF is, essentially, a gateway into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which heralds what will be the biggest free trade area in the world. The first ever Intra-African Trade Fair, will provide direct access to the lucrative market created by the AfCFTA, which boasts over 1 billion people and a combined GDP of over US $3.4 trillion, making it an unprecedented platform for businesses to grow their interests exponentially into Africa. The trade fair will also provide opportunity for the presentation of bankable proposals for funding, and access to US$25 billion in trade finance for deals concluded at the event. Business-to-Business Exchanges will also be facilitated at the trade fair. According to Ms. Awani, Afreximbank is working actively with the African Union(AU) to implement the AfCFTA.</p>
<p>The IATF 2018 is being organized by Afreximbank in partnership with the AU and will be hosted by the Egypt’s Export Development Authority. Themed “Intra-African Trade for a Transformative Africa”, the IATF will take place from 11 to 17 December 2018 at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in Cairo. The trade fair will be convened biennially. You can register as a visitor/delegate on our website at: www.intrafricantradefair.com. We look forward to seeing you in Cairo.</p>


How IATF aims to boost regional trade in Africa

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<p>Intra-African trade has remained at 16 per cent over the last six years with just a few countries contributing to this percentage. Amr Kamel, Executive Vice President, Business Development and Corporate Banking, at Afreximbank believes that the forum will help steer conversations towards unlocking the bottlenecks that hinder trade in the continent.</p>


Intra-African trade fair set to unlock the continent’s potential

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<p>The Nigerian Ports Authority scored a mixed performance in its first quarter report as there was a 2.3 per cent decline in number of vessels which arrived at the port. Obiora Madu, Chief Executive Officer of Multimix group joins CNBC Africa to discuss the key drivers of this performance.</p>


Nigerian Ports record mixed performance as vessel traffic decline in Q1

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<p>Nigeria&#8217;s Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the Intra-African Trade Fair will really help propel and drive trade within the African continent. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with him at Afreximbank&#8217;s Intra-African Trade Fair engagement session in Abidjan, where he discussed expectations for the upcoming trade fair in Egypt.</p>


Intra-African Trade Fair to help boost trade on the continent – Obasanjo

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<p>Total merchandise exports by Africa currently stand at US$555 billion only US$98 billion of this is the contribution from intra-African trade. Joining CNBC Africa for a look at the challenges faced in trade finance in Sub Saharan Africa is Hogan Lovells&#8217; Partner Lodewyk Meyer.</p>


Is Intra-African trade the key to sustainable economic development in Africa?

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<p>Rwanda has organised the saving week under the theme &#8220;Our savings, Our Wealth&#8221; in a bid to conduct awareness campaigns and encourage people to save.</p>


Savings week kicks off in Rwanda

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<p>Intra-African trade currently stands at 12 per cent, signifying the need for individual countries to customize their own solutions to push this number higher.</p>


intra-African trade

Visa’s Suzan Kereere on the role of digital payments in boosting intra-African trade

African leaders launch free-trade zone, what you need to know about this potential economic “game changer”

Afreximbank plans to bring their trade seminar to Durban

Managing discrepancies in intra-Africa trade

Tony Elumelu urges strong support for Africa’s entrepreneurs

How IATF aims to boost regional trade in Africa

Intra-African trade fair set to unlock the continent’s potential

Nigerian Ports record mixed performance as vessel traffic decline in Q1

Intra-African Trade Fair to help boost trade on the continent – Obasanjo

Is Intra-African trade the key to sustainable economic development in Africa?

Savings week kicks off in Rwanda

One-on-one with new Rwandan minister for trade, industry and EAC affairs

News Tips

Advertise With Us

intra-African trade

Visa’s Suzan Kereere on the role of digital payments in boosting intra-African trade

African leaders launch free-trade zone, what you need to know about this potential economic “game changer”

Afreximbank plans to bring their trade seminar to Durban

Managing discrepancies in intra-Africa trade

Tony Elumelu urges strong support for Africa’s entrepreneurs

How IATF aims to boost regional trade in Africa

Intra-African trade fair set to unlock the continent’s potential

Nigerian Ports record mixed performance as vessel traffic decline in Q1

Intra-African Trade Fair to help boost trade on the continent – Obasanjo

Is Intra-African trade the key to sustainable economic development in Africa?

Savings week kicks off in Rwanda

One-on-one with new Rwandan minister for trade, industry and EAC affairs

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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