The African Continental Free Trade Area is set to transform business and trade on the continent. The African Union held a forum in Windhoek, Namibia to highlight how small businesses can drive that change.

African Union Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) Forum from 9-13 September gave small businesses a chance to refine their skills, pitch their businesses and network.

Under the theme of ‘Fostering financial empowerment and educational innovation for African startups and MSMEs’, the Forum offered entrepreneurs insights and connections to thrive in intra-African trade. Over 60 small businesses from the ICT, creative industries, agriculture, minerals, and manufacturing sectors participated.

The International Trade Centre (ITC), through its One Trade Africa initiative, led sessions with partners on youth empowerment, digital transformation and investment, and entrepreneurship.

Pitching African businesses

The Enterprise Africa Network Fellowship launched at the Forum, as part of the AU SME Strategy. This 12-month programme offers training and mentorship to 50 small businesses.

‘We look forward to seeing small businesses emerge from this programme with the skills, tools and connections they need to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area, to sell their goods across borders,’ said ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton.

As a coaching partner of the Fellowship, ITC joined forces with the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board to provide training on pitching, ahead of the Chelete Pitching Competition at the Forum.

Unlocking small business potential through tech

With Alibaba and the AUC, ITC conducted a workshop for African small businesses to receive the knowledge, skills and tools needed to harness e-commerce opportunities, with a focus on business-to-business platforms.

The session marked the first step in implementing the new Digital Innovation Accelerator for African MSMEs project supported by China International Development Cooperation Agency. The initiative will support online stores for 100 African small businesses, covering 1,000 products.

ITC also organized a session with the Afrikan Youth Business Council to explore educational technology and education for trade readiness in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The session showcased the latest educational technology, demonstrated online training platforms including the ITC-Afreximbank ‘How to Export with the AfCFTA’, and facilitated knowledge sharing among innovative startups.

Adam Alqali, President of the Council, encouraged young entrepreneurs to ‘explore the immense entrepreneurship opportunities offered by the still-evolving educational tech sector, a new and viable sector not only for promoting inclusive education and learning for all but also for wealth creation.’

Promoting competitiveness through quality infrastructure

On the sidelines of the Forum, ITC participated in the third Africa Quality Policy Council meeting. Key highlights included discussion on the Africa Quality Policy Action Plan and implementation of the African Continental Trade Facilitation Framework. ITC presented its collaborative work on quality with the AUC and Pan-African Quality Infrastructure, including the soon-to-be-released ‘Made in Africa’ concept testing and benchmarking study.