Positioning SMEs in Africa to tap into and benefit from the AfCFTA.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will cover a market of 1.2 billion people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion, across all 55 member States of the African Union. In terms of numbers of participating countries, AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organization. Trade and Industry Commissioner Amb. Albert Muchanga talks about capacity building for the small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa. SMEs account for around 80 per cent of the region’s businesses and mostly usually struggle to penetrate more advanced overseas markets. However, with AFCFTA, the SMEs are well positioned to tap into regional export destinations and can use regional markets as stepping stones for expanding into overseas markets at a later point.
