Trade : Gabon, Sierra Leone Accede to Establishment Agreement of Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA)

FEDA described the accession by the two countries as a significant milestone, which will strengthen its ability to provide crucial support to African economies and achieve its objectives effectively The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the development impact-focused subsidiary of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com), has announced the accession of the Gabonese Republic and the Republic of Sierra Leone to the Fund through their recent respective signing of the FEDA Establishment Agreement.   FEDA described the accession by the two countries as a significant milestone, which will strengthen…

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African Development Fund, Smart Africa Alliance launch $1.5 million project to enhance digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems across Africa

The project will see to the implementation of regional training and capacity-building programs focusing on cross-border e-payment and e-commerce for governments, private sectors, and SMEs The African Development Fund and Smart Africa Alliance have jointly launched a $1.5 million project to streamline digital trade and e-commerce policies across 10 African countries. The Institutional Support for Digital Payments and e-Commerce Policies for Cross-Border Trade Project (IDECT (https://apo-opa.info/3L9ZNqA)) will evaluate policy gaps in the digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems of Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Republic of…

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Visa, ITC partner to sharpen financial capacities of youth-led and e-commerce companies in Africa

(Geneva) – The International Trade Centre (ITC) and Visa partner to provide youth-led and e-commerce businesses in Africa with the tools, training, and resources they need to enhance their financial skills. The partnership draws on Visa’s extensive tools, resources and expertise in payment solutions, as well as ITC’s work on empowering youth in trade using fit-for-purpose digital tools. The newly signed partnership aims to update and improve the ITC Online Payment Solution Finder, which helps businesses to find relevant payment solutions and sales channels in any given country, with background information…

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Kenya, Congo and Chad Accede to Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) Establishment Agreement

The Republics of Kenya, Congo and Chad are the latest signatories to the Establishment Agreement of the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the development impact-oriented subsidiary of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). These successive accessions provide positive momentum for FEDA and demonstrate a shared commitment from Afreximbank Member Countries to support the organization’s impact investing objectives. It creates a powerful catalyst to increase equity and equity-like funding for African companies that promote industrialization, Intra-Africa trade and value-added export development. FEDA already has strategic investments in The Republic of Congo…

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NAMIBIA AND BOTSWANA LAUNCH 24-HOUR OPERATION AT BORDER POSTS TO BOOST TRADE

WINDHOEK, (Xinhua) – Namibia and Botswana on Saturday launched the 24-hour operation at the Trans-Kalahari/Mamuno border crossings, in a bid to boost trade between the two countries. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Namibia’s Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, Albert Kawana, highlighted the benefits of the new policy for the business community, saying it would eliminate the need for truckers to sleep at border crossings, ensuring timely delivery of goods and services to consumers. The Trans-Kalahari Corridor is a crucial route for trade between the two countries, and…

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Trade : Germany to Support Kenyan Businesses in Accessing European Markets

  Germany will support Kenya in its attempt to better penetrate the European Union market. Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz said Kenya is a true friend and stable country in Africa whose economy must be helped to thrive. “The better access to Europe will help Kenyan firms to produce and sell more. This will accelerate employment creation and support more lives,” he said. He was addressing the media on Tuesday at his office in Bundeskanzleramt in Berlin after talks with President William Ruto. We value the role that Germany has…

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Trade : Tracking Africa’s progress on AfCFTA

On the sidelines of the 55th session of the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the ECA communication team interviewed Stephen Karingi, Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division on the progress of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), three years since its launch. At what stage are countries on the AfCFTA? We are in the trading stage where money is being made and the private sector is taking advantage of the opportunity the AfCFTA has offered. For example, value added coffee has been traded from…

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Kenya: African Development Bank approves $30 million Trade & Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Finance Facility for Family Bank Limited

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group  has approved a $30 million Trade & SME Finance Facility for Family bank Limited (FBL) in Kenya. The facility is expected to boost intra-Africa trade, promote regional integration and contribute to the reduction of the trade & SME finance gap in the East African nation.   The facility will provide a Trade Finance Line of Credit to support FBL’s short-term trade finance activities, a Transaction Guarantee, which will provide a risk-covered strategic platform to enable confirmation of trade transactions originating…

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Trade: “We need to strengthen South-South cooperation” says Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of Burundi

From March 5 to 9, 2023, the United Nations organized high-level roundtables in Doha to gather the voices of experts and representatives of countries and organizations on the best ways to place potential to the realization of the Doha Agenda for Action. The aim was to find solutions to the challenges posed by the international trading system and to support the least developed countries (LDCs) in their integration into international trade and regional integration. The Head of State of Burundi, H.E. Evariste Ndayishimiye, co-chaired the High-Level Thematic Roundtable on “Enhancing…

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Trade : Africa’s free trade on track, more efforts needed

By: Douglas Okwatch It’s the second year of business on Africa’s biggest trading platform – the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – and it isn’t going to be business as usual in the continent’s single biggest trading bloc. Expectations are high and a new push by African ministers may have just provided the AfCFTA with the much-need impetus. It’s also expected to top the agenda at the African Union Heads of State and Government Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, early this year. Critically, the new year provides an opportunity…

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