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<p>The recently created Afreximbank fund for export development in Africa also known as FEDA has a primary goal of supporting Africa&#8217;s exports markets, CNBC Africa spoke to the fund’s CEO, Philip Kamau on this and the decision to have the fund’s headquarters in Kigali.</p>


Afreximbank’s FEDA fund to support AfCFTA goals

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<p>As countries position to take advantage of the opportunities in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, we will examine Nigeria&#8217;s preparations and if Africa&#8217;s largest economy can adequately compete in the automotive industry. Bambo Adebowale, Chairman of the Auto and Allied sector of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


AfCFTA: Can Nigeria’s automobile industry adequately compete?

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<p>Kenya and France have signed three bilateral agreements to strengthen economic relations between the two countries and CNBC Africa spoke with Janet Mulu, Trade &#038; Investment Consultant to shine more lights on the agreements and what this means to Kenya.</p>


Unpacking the Kenya-France bilateral deals

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<p>Nigeria is at the tail-end of negotiations on the rules of origin, a move that brings the nation closer to the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement &#8211; that’s according to the Acting Director General of the Nigerian office of Trade Negotiations, Liman Victor Liman. Obiora Madu, CEO of Multimix Group joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Nigeria edges closer to AfCFTA ratification

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<p>Africa’s largest global trading partner is China; however the vulnerability of global supply chains has intensified with onslaught of the U.S-China trade tensions.</p>


How the U.S-China trade tensions impacts Africa’s free trade agreement

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<p>In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) was postponed by six months but should the African Union and have gone on to operationalize the trade deal? Edem Adzogenu, Co-Founder of the Afrochampions Initiative joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Afrochampions Initiative on the operationalization of the AfCFTA amid COVID-19

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<p>One of the expected outcomes of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement is to integrate African economies and therefore create a regional economic bloc of about $3.4 trillion. Moono Mupotola, Director for Regional Integration at the African Development Bank joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor to discuss how Africa can integrate its markets to take full advantage of the AfCFTA in post-COVID-19.</p>


#AfDBAM2020: AfDB on how to best integrate African markets post-COVID-19

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<p>The operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area has been moved to December of this year by Africa’s heads of states due to COVID-19 pandemic.</p>


How Africa’s free trade agreement could be the best stimulus after COVID-19

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<p>The World Bank says the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted trade and triggered up to $79 billion in output losses in Africa alone this year. But the bank stressed that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement has the potential to boost Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035. Winston Osuchukwu, co-Founder of Trans-Sahara Incorporated joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


World Bank: AfCFTA to boost Africa’s income by $450bn by 2035


<p>Why the Covid-19 crisis proves the power and promise of the AfCFTA</p>



<p></p>



<p>The African Continental Free Trade Agreement was ratified last year but this year’s onset of the covid-19 pandemic forced African Union leaders to postpone its taking effect. The disease has had a serious impact on the continent, having claimed prominent leaders and infecting 578,207 in confirmed cases as of July 12<sup>th</sup> according to the Africa CDC, Johns Hopkins and government data. The economic fallout has probably been even more severe; lockdowns and supply chain seizures to import dependent African nations have severely impacted incomes and livelihoods for Africa’s largely informal workforce. However, the crisis has focused the minds of African policy makers around the necessity to create a more resilient healthcare system and the need to manufacture more of its critical needs at home. This renewed focus on productive self sufficiency can be assisted significantly by implementing the AfCFTA.</p>



<p>Covid-19 has provided the previously missing urgency amongst leaders around developing the sort of coherent industrial policy necessary to get any benefit from a continental free trade zone. Africa manufactures very little at the moment and many critics rightly questioned the wisdom of liberalizing internal borders without having African produced goods to sell across them. There is still great risk that creating this internal free market gets exploited by existing low-cost producers in Asia and Europe, limiting the job-creating potential its architects intend. But the recent response to the novel coronavirus may offer a blueprint on how to ensure the realization of the AfCFTA dream.</p>



<p>The vast market created by AfCFTA will provide an immediate boon to nascent plans being guided by the African CDC, NEPAD and others to produce various critical healthcare items such as pharmaceutical compounds, PPE and ventilators in countries such as Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. The sudden demand for these life saving products and the enormous logistical challenges African nations suffered attempting to secure supplies from East Asia and Western Europe has left a lasting impression. During the initial frenzy of procurement countries around the globe raced to stockpile PPE and ventilators, in many cases shutting individual African nations who lacked the financial firepower and sufficient order quantities to elbow into global queues for scarce supplies at mainly Chinese manufacturers.</p>



<p>In response, the African Union launched a pooled procurement online market place to aggregate the orders of African nations. Now leaders and businessmen are going a step further – setting up supply for this local demand on African soil. A range of textile firms, diaper manufacturers and equipment makers are adding additional lines and re-purposing existing capacity to produce PPE, medical equipment and ventilators. A surfeit of concessional finance, international donors and grants from African philanthropists such as Aliko Dangote and Mike Adenuga has bolstered the purchasing power of African health ministries, jump starting demand for new output.</p>



<p>AfCFTA’s implementation can help sustain the opportunity for new production capacity and demonstrate the power of the shared market to would-be entrepreneurs in other sectors. The key deciding factor for the success of the continental free zone will be Africa’s indigenous business community rising to the occasion – manufacturing for the needs of Africa’s 1.2 billion consumers. To encourage those entrepreneurs and investors African governments and supranational indigenous bodies like the African Union should build on the lessons they have learned in rapidly coordinating to intervene in the covid-19 response. The same tools and institutional structures being pulled together to rapidly promote the production of healthcare items and vaccine delivery should immediately be expanded and adapted to FMCG, automotive assembly, apparel and other heavily consumed items across the African continent. It is only with this emphasis on local production that Africa will enjoy the dividends of the AfCFTA: jobs for its young, growing population and meaningful wealth creation for its business community and their investors.<br><br><em>Franklin Olakunle Amoo is the managing partner of Baylis Emerging Markets, an investment firm focused on African industry and manufacturing. Baylis is a founding partner of the Africa Pandemic Response Alliance, an African led initiative coordinating the response to the covid-19 pandemic on the continent</em></p>


cnbc

COMMENT: AfCFTA  is economic medicine Africa needs to recover from the covid-19 pandemic

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<p>The African Free Continental Free Trade Area agreement was scheduled to be operationalized on the 1st of July but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, various heads of state have agreed to a new date for what will become the continent’s biggest trade deal, CNBC Africa to Albert Muchanga, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry on the way forward for the AfCFTA deal.</p>


AfCFTA: How to get the free trade deal back on track amid COVID-19 crisis

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<p>The African Continental Free Trade Area promises to be of the biggest economic stimuli for trade on the African continent. But like many projects, it has been hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The deal, which aims to boost intra-Africa trade, was launched over a year ago. Commerce was due to start this month; however, it will be implemented in January due to delays. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area spoke to CNBC Africa for more&#8230;.</p>


AfCFTA: Wamkele Mene on why the free trade deal is Africa’s COVID-19 stimulus plan

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<p>The operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement was supposed to take place at the beginning of this month but just like many developments it has been set back by the COVID-19 pandemic. CNBC Africa spoke to former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on how AfCTA can get back on track.</p>


Olusegun Obasanjo on COVID-19 lessons for African economies & the AfCFTA

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<p>Are calls for the reopening of borders by trade ministers in Africa synonymous with tearing down trade barriers ahead of the postponed implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement now slated for January 2021? Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Financial Derivatives joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19: How to address trade barriers in SSA

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<p>Members of the African Union had set July 1 as the day to operationalize the African Free Trade Area Agreement but with COVID-19 pandemic affecting all member countries, this has been pushed back to a yet to be named date though some experts believe the AfCFTA implementation should go ahead. So could this be an opportunity for improved Intra Africa trade? Hippolyte Fofack, Chief Economist Afreximbank joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Afreximbank on COVID-19 opportunities & challenges for intra-Africa trade


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Key Points:</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The AfCFTA, which was due to be implemented on July 1, will be the largest free trade area in the world, uniting 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc.</li><li>Given the impact of the outbreak on Africa’s traditional intercontinental trade routes, intra-Africa trade will be key to economic recovery, according to Thomas Birgen, Nairobi-based Treasury Manager for AZA.</li><li>Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, Dorothy Tembo, told CNBC Africa that despite the risks to the AfCFTA’s implementation, African leaders had a unique opportunity to spur greater collaboration.</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/105314733-1530885025991gettyimages-992361246.jpg?v=1530890377&amp;w=678&amp;h=381" alt="A container truck passes the main gate of Djibouti International Free Trade Zone after an inauguration ceremony in Djibouti on July 5, 2018."/><figcaption>A container truck passes the main gate of Djibouti International Free Trade Zone after an inauguration ceremony in Djibouti on July 5, 2018.Yasuyoshi Chiba | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<p></p>



<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/11/africa-free-trade-what-is-the-afcfta.html">African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)</a>&nbsp;must not be allowed to fall by the wayside, according to experts, after its launch was postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.</p>



<p>The AfCFTA, which was due to be implemented on July 1, will be the largest free trade area in the world, uniting 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc, and came after protracted negotiations between the leaders of 54 African nations.</p>



<p>However, it was postponed in late April, with AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene telling Reuters it was the “responsible thing to do” to avoid distracting leaders during the pandemic, adding that he was confident the deal will go through eventually.</p>



<p>The continent’s key trading partners, such as China, and now to a greater extent Europe and the U.S., have been blighted by the pandemic, while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/02/lockdowns-curfews-and-doorstep-testing-africas-crackdown-on-the-coronavirus.html">Africa has for the most part managed to avoid</a>&nbsp;an exponential spread of Covid-19.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">An opportunity amid the crisis</h2>



<p>Given the impact of the outbreak on Africa’s traditional intercontinental trade routes, intra-Africa trade will be key to getting the region’s nations back up and running, according to Thomas Birgen, Nairobi-based Treasury Manager for AZA, Africa’s largest non-bank currency broker.</p>



<p>“We need to see a situation where your cargo isn’t returned at the port because you don’t belong to a certain economic bloc,” Birgen said in a recent webinar.</p>



<p>“Here in Kenya, we killed our textile industry because we import second-hand clothes from China and everywhere else. Now with the closure of borders, we cannot live without these products that we have become used to importing.”</p>



<p>Birgen noted the manufacturing of protective masks in Kenya and Nigeria as an example of the opportunities available for African nations to produce their own products and trade within the continent.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/104385107-GettyImages-534435412.jpg?v=1529474721&amp;w=678&amp;h=381" alt="A truck carries rocks extracted from a cobalt mine at a copper quarry and cobalt pit in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 23, 2016."/><figcaption>A truck carries rocks extracted from a cobalt mine at a copper quarry and cobalt pit in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 23, 2016.Junior Kannah | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<p></p>



<p>Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, Dorothy Tembo,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/05/17/afcfta-why-covid-19-presents-the-best-opportunity-to-spur-intra-africa-trade/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told CNBC Africa</a>&nbsp;that despite the risks to the AfCFTA’s implementation, African leaders had a unique opportunity to spur greater collaboration if specific policies were fast-tracked.</p>



<p>“This is a time for Africa to rethink and reposition itself. Part of what we are seeing is that there is a shift in the demand in the context of the different value chains that African companies and businesses are involved in,” Tembo said.</p>



<p>Like Birgen, she noted the shift in demand from textiles and garments to masks and health-related products, and suggested that other opportunities will also arise.</p>



<p>“It is a dark moment for Africa in terms of the public health impact, but it is also one that demands that on the economic side, we are not losing truck on the efforts that have been made, particularly with respect to the continental free trade area,” Tembo added.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">AfCFTA will take time to fulfill its promise</h2>



<p>Jeff Gable, chief economist at African banking group Absa, told CNBC that Africa should be “applauded and supported” for moving towards collaboration, while the rest of the world moves towards isolationism.</p>



<p>However, he cautioned that the necessary integration will take much longer than two or three years, with smaller economies unlikely to see any early benefit as businesses will need to be created from scratch to participate in core value chains.</p>



<p>“For manufacturers in Ghana, this is great news — for Kenya, South Africa,” he said. “But this doesn’t suddenly unleash a manufacturing boom in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).”</p>



<p>A common qualm with intercontinental trade is that African nations extract and export raw materials, which are then manufactured into products elsewhere and shipped back with a substantial value addition.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106546102-15900040332020-05-20t092112z_1754615962_rc28sg9qx880_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-safrica-hungry.jpeg?v=1590004145&amp;w=678&amp;h=381" alt="People stand in a queue to receive food aid amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Itireleng informal settlement, near Laudium suburb in Pretoria, South Africa, May 20, 2020."/><figcaption>People stand in a queue to receive food aid amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Itireleng informal settlement, near Laudium suburb in Pretoria, South Africa, May 20, 2020.Siphiwe Sibeko | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



<p></p>



<p>Gable said that AfCFTA “does not change that very quickly” due to massive discrepancies in the industrialization of component economies.</p>



<p>“There are very few examples of economies on the (African) continent that capture enough of a value chain that you can really call it a manufacturing sector. South Africa runs a huge trade surplus with the rest of the continent because we trade in consumer goods, we trade in investment goods, and so on, but that is not true for Botswana,” Gable said.</p>



<p>Botswana’s economic output, he added, had not been “constrained by the lack of an African continental free trade agreement, vis-a-vis its relations with its neighboring countries.”</p>



<p>Gable also highlighted the logistical challenges faced by Africa’s existing regional economic communities, such as the East African Community (EAC).</p>



<p>“What you expect is that those borders are freed up to goods, and you should expect to see an export intensification between those countries. We’re now more than 10 years later and we’re not seeing much of that,” Gable said.</p>



<p>Trade frictions at borders between neighboring states have also become commonplace in recent years, creating logjams. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, for example, has been a regular purveyor of protectionist trade policies with its neighbors.</p>


105314733-1530885025991gettyimages-992361246

Africa’s free trade area is delayed by the coronavirus, but experts say it’s vital to recovery

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<p>Members of the African union had set July 1 as the day to operationalize The African Free Trade Area Agreement but with COVID-19 pandemic affecting all member countries, this has been pushed back to a yet to be named date though some experts believe the AFCFTA implementation should go ahead. So could this be an opportunity for improved intra Africa trade? DR. Hippolyte Fofack joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


AfCFTA

Afreximbank’s FEDA fund to support AfCFTA goals

AfCFTA: Can Nigeria’s automobile industry adequately compete?

Unpacking the Kenya-France bilateral deals

Nigeria edges closer to AfCFTA ratification

How the U.S-China trade tensions impacts Africa’s free trade agreement

Afrochampions Initiative on the operationalization of the AfCFTA amid COVID-19

#AfDBAM2020: AfDB on how to best integrate African markets post-COVID-19

How Africa’s free trade agreement could be the best stimulus after COVID-19

World Bank: AfCFTA to boost Africa’s income by $450bn by 2035

COMMENT: AfCFTA is economic medicine Africa needs to recover from the covid-19 pandemic

AfCFTA: How to get the free trade deal back on track amid COVID-19 crisis

AfCFTA: Wamkele Mene on why the free trade deal is Africa’s COVID-19 stimulus plan

Olusegun Obasanjo on COVID-19 lessons for African economies & the AfCFTA

COVID-19: How to address trade barriers in SSA

Afreximbank on COVID-19 opportunities & challenges for intra-Africa trade

Africa’s free trade area is delayed by the coronavirus, but experts say it’s vital to recovery

COVID-19: An opportunity for improved intra-Africa trade?

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AfCFTA

Afreximbank’s FEDA fund to support AfCFTA goals

AfCFTA: Can Nigeria’s automobile industry adequately compete?

Unpacking the Kenya-France bilateral deals

Nigeria edges closer to AfCFTA ratification

How the U.S-China trade tensions impacts Africa’s free trade agreement

Afrochampions Initiative on the operationalization of the AfCFTA amid COVID-19

#AfDBAM2020: AfDB on how to best integrate African markets post-COVID-19

How Africa’s free trade agreement could be the best stimulus after COVID-19

World Bank: AfCFTA to boost Africa’s income by $450bn by 2035

COMMENT: AfCFTA is economic medicine Africa needs to recover from the covid-19 pandemic

AfCFTA: How to get the free trade deal back on track amid COVID-19 crisis

AfCFTA: Wamkele Mene on why the free trade deal is Africa’s COVID-19 stimulus plan

Olusegun Obasanjo on COVID-19 lessons for African economies & the AfCFTA

COVID-19: How to address trade barriers in SSA

Afreximbank on COVID-19 opportunities & challenges for intra-Africa trade

Africa’s free trade area is delayed by the coronavirus, but experts say it’s vital to recovery

COVID-19: An opportunity for improved intra-Africa trade?

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