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At the margins of the EU-Africa Business Forum, the International Trade Centre (ITC) signed a partnership with the Africa Business Council (AfBC) to empower African enterprises, especially women and youth.
Through this partnership, ITC’s One Trade Africa programme will support the AfBC in its mandate to coordinate business support organisations across the continent and provide better services to the private sector. African enterprises will also gain access to practical information, knowledge, and skills to improve competitiveness and their ability to access new opportunities using the AfCFTA among others.
During the signing ceremony, ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton underscored ITC’s commitment to enabling micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) participation in the new single market.
“Today’s institutional agreement with the AfBC is a big step towards empowering the African private sector to shift from trade and investment potential to concrete business transactions. We are fully committed to translating economic opportunities into commercial partnerships for African firms, in particular SMEs, to generate profits and decent jobs. AfBC and ITC will join forces to ensure that the private sector is driving the transformational agenda of Africa,” said Coke-Hamilton.
As the principal voice of the private sector, the AfBC is prioritizing the AfCFTA for the benefit of the African business community and will seek to broaden and enhance existing mechanisms.
“AfBC and ITC join forces to empower the African Private Sector including MSMEs, women, and youth to realize the Africa We Want for a prosperous peaceful integrated Africa through private sector strengthening, policy advocacy for a conducive environment and product development for a competitive standardized quality value-added African product,” said Dr. Amany Asfour President of AfBC.
As part of the One Trade Africa initiative and in close collaboration with the AfBC, African business owners will learn to make the most of opportunities accessible through the ongoing regional integration process.