[AfCFTA News] – Many Western companies, sensing the opportunities of the AfCFTA, are accelerating the process of setting up their branch in Africa. Or expand their activities in Africa. To produce in Africa and sell to Africans. They are certainly welcome. But Africans should not leave the field open only to these giants.

It is time for Africans to invest in Africa and take advantage of the many opportunities that our continent offers. Briggette Harrington is one of those who have taken the ball and run with it.

The name of this brave lady is now inscribed in the annals of intra-African trade. The CEO of Igire Coffee Limited exported the first batch of her coffee from Rwanda to Accra, Ghana, in October 2022, marking the official start of preferential trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). His company is the first to receive an AfCFTA certificate of origin from the Rwandan authorities.

Like Briggette Harrington, entrepreneurs from eight African countries can now export their products and services to Africa at preferential rates. Read her secrets in this edition. Let’s all do the same. Let’s explore new opportunities and not leave Africa’s assets only in the hands of others! Let’s invest in Africa!

AfCFTA’s Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) was launched in Accra, Ghana on October 7, 2022. It brings together eight countries, namely Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Tunisia, representing the five regions of Africa.

The objective is to enable meaningful trade and to test the operational, institutional, legal, and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA.

Under the AfCFTA, tariffs on 90 percent of liberalized goods will be reduced by 2030 and 7 percent by 2035. Countries are allowed to tax 3 percent of goods produced.

According to Wamkele Mene, the secretary general of the AfCFTA Secretariat, products slated for trade under the initiative include ceramic tiles, accumulators, tea, coffee, processed meat products, maize starch, sugar, pasta, glucose syrup, dried fruits, and sisal fiber, among others. This is in line with AfCFTA’s focus on value chain development.

The AfCFTA, which came into effect on January 1, 2021, has created the world’s largest free trade area by the number of participating countries. It consolidates a market of about 1.3 billion people in 55 AU member countries with a combined GDP of $3.4 billion. In addition, it could potentially lift 50 million Africans out of poverty and increase the continent’s income by $470 billion. So let’s do it! Let’s think about Africa and invest in Africa!

٭By Beaugas Orain DJOYUM. Editorial published in issue 01 of AfCFTA News Magazine. November 2022.

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Beaugas Orain DJOYUM is the CEO of ICT Media STRATEGIES (www.ictmedia.africa), an e-Reputation, Personal branding, and Nation branding firm that also offers strategic intelligence services in Africa. The firm also offers training in e-Reputation and digital communication. Improve team morale and create a positive working atmosphere.

In addition, ICT Media Strategies provides professional live-streaming services to event organizers and produces specialized media content for companies, organizations, and specialized media.

Beaugas – Orain DJOYUM has become over the years the right consultant when it comes to Personal Branding, Nation branding, and digital communication strategies. Not only in Cameroon but also in many African countries where he helps individuals, administrations, organizations, and companies.

He is also the editor of Digital Business Africa (www.digitalbusiness.africa), the French-speaking web platform specialized in daily strategic information on ICT, telecommunications, and digital in Africa.

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