The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has launched a regional initiative to help small and medium-sized businesses in Southern Africa become more competitive and increase their participation in intra-African trade.
The AfCFTA SME Booster Initiative’s Southern Africa Regional Cohort, which opened in Gaborone, brings together SMEs, business support organisations, government representatives and development partners to address practical barriers limiting businesses’ ability to trade across African markets.
The programme will focus on market intelligence, strategic positioning, product value addition, standards, packaging and export readiness, according to the AfCFTA Secretariat.
The opening session examined the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement, the Southern African Development Community’s regional implementation strategy and findings from the Southern Africa SME & BSO Survey.
The programme is intended to strengthen the capacity of businesses and the organisations supporting them to identify opportunities in African markets and improve their ability to meet market and export requirements.
The initiative also seeks to build a pipeline of export-ready businesses that can participate more effectively in regional value chains and take advantage of the market created by the AfCFTA.
The cohort is being implemented with support from the European Commission, Better Than Cash Alliance, United Nations Development Programme and International Trade Centre.
For SMEs, the ability to access markets will depend not only on tariff and regulatory reforms but also on their capacity to meet product standards, package goods competitively, understand market demand and position products for buyers across the continent.
