*ACCESS TO FINANCE*: CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE NEED TO ENGAGE RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS FOR AFRICAN TRADE INSURANCE (ATI)

Accra, 22 August, 2021

*ACCESS TO FINANCE*: CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE NEED TO ENGAGE RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS  FOR AFRICAN TRADE INSURANCE (ATI)

Ahead of the two-day roundtable on "Single Currency and Fintech to Boost Intra-African Trade and Enhance AfCFTA Implementation" scheduled to be held in Dakar, Senegal from 23-24 August, think-tank Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS) wants to take the opportunity to remind stakeholders about the importance of the African Trade Insurance (ATI) in the conversation on AfCFTA and financing.

APSS believes that ATI is not sufficiently-engaged by Chambers of Commerce (the business community at St large), and that the Chambers of Commerce need to engage their respective governments to become members of ATI. If all 55 countries were members of ATI, this would help celebrate the Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT), as it would enable them access direct financing for the business community backed by ATI through insurance risk.

If access to finance is a perennial and persistent problem for AU Member States business community, it is arguable that, with ATI, this challenge is to a large extent resolved. 

Already, ATI supports African governments and businesses to raise finance from international banks at acceptable interest rates because of its credit rating. This enables a reduction of their debt-burden. 

Secondly, in the event of contracts requiring a sovereign guarantee, ATI is able to provide the requested guarantee in lieu of government. Third, ATI adds value to local enterprises by facilitating credit access for local enterprises. 

To date, there are only 18 member States of the AU that have fully subscribed to the ATI. 

In 2017, ECOWAS came closer to developing a relationship with ATI when it moved a step closer to realising the establishment of an Investment Guarantee corporation for West Africa with the inaugural meeting of a Project Implementation Committee held in May 2017. In 2016, ECOWAS waived the idea of establishing a new agency and decided to work with ATI instead. It was then agreed that up to 7 ECOWAS Member States could potentially join ATI, increasing the share capital  by as much as USD100 million. 

In conclusion, given the central role Chambers of Commerce play in the private sector conversation around AfCFTA, it is incumbent on them, now more so than ever, to consider engaging their governments for ATI' s membership in more strategic ways for access to finance.

Governments will continue to be an important interface for Chambers of Commerce, reason for which Chambers must engage them to ensure inclusiveness on the conversation on access to direct finance. 

In addition, any type of inclusiveness  needs to ensure that the Pan-African Chambers of Commerce & Industry (PACCI), which is populated by Chambers of Commerce across the continent;  African Business Council(AfBC); and business associations are all part of the conversation. 

AfBC remains the umbrella body to all businesses at the AU.

ATI will be represented at the panel discussion on Day 2 of the upcoming conference on Single Currency scheduled for Dakar.

Watch out for APSS Series 2 and 3 coming up in October and November respectively.

www.ati-aca.org 

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.

Roundtable on Single Currency and Fintech to Boost Intra Africa Trade and Enhance AfCFTA Implementation August 23 to 24, 2021

When:  Aug 23, 2021 09:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time

              Aug 24, 2021 09:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time

Register in advance for this meeting:

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ENDs

E.K.Bensah Jr

Head of Communications Unit

Africa Private Sector Summit

Mobile: +233.268.687.653 / +233.55.833.85.47

Twitter: @ekbensah / @BizWrongs

Instagram: @ekbensah

www.facebook.com/africaprivatesectorsummit

Issued by:

Emmanuel.K.Bensah

ekbensah@gmail.com

   

COMING UP ON NEXT EDITION OF AGENDA 2063 TV SHOW -- an interview about African Medecines Agency

(Still in the business of making history)...in a *CONTINENTAL EXCLUSIVE*, Agenda 2063 TV Show is the ONLY media programme to interview key staff working on *African Medecines Agency* to help unpack the AMA after reaching its proverbial 15 ratifications. In an age of *vaccine nationalism*, and a public health pandemic in covid-19, what future portends for the AMA to disrupt Africa's health narrative?

 I shall be speaking to Dr Ndomondo from NEPAD- *AU Development Agency* for way  forward. #AfricanHealthWeWant #AfricaWeWant #Agenda2063

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Next Edition of Agenda 2063 TV Show: Celebrating Doreen Nawa (Zambia)

In next edition of *Agenda 2063 TV Show*, I will be interviewing *Doreen Nawa*, who was nominated by her peers in the official NEPAD-AUDA *Agenda 2063 Media Network* as one of the most hard-working journalists promoting Agenda 2063 from Zambia.

I am doing two things with this interview -- helping celebrate hard-working reporters promoting Agenda 2063, and giving visibility to the Agenda 2063 Media Network, which was established in 2018 by NEPAD-AU Development Agency to bring together journalists across the Continent to champion Agenda 2063. 

Ghana's country Champion is the host of the Show and is also a proud member of the Network. 

This is *dedicated to all reporters* doing their best to unpack Agenda 2063 narratives: the space is here!😁🔥

AAU TV is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Agenda 2063 TV Show

Time: Aug 11, 2021 02:30 PM Africa/Accra

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TENDER FOR PREPARATION OF A PRIVATE SECTOR BILL OF RIGHTS TO ENHANCE IMPLEMENTATION OF AFCFTA

Accra, 7 August, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

TENDER FOR PREPARATION OF A PRIVATE SECTOR BILL OF RIGHTS TO ENHANCE IMPLEMENTATION OF AFCFTA

We are pleased to announce a consultancy for the preparation of a Private Sector Bill of Rights to Enhance Implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

This tender is one of the three outcomes of an MoU that was signed between Association of African Universities (AAU) and Pan-African Chamber of Commerce (PACCI) in March 2021. 

The second is for the establishment of an Educational Trust Fund; and a corresponding working relationship between private sector and academia.

The AAU in collaboration with PACCI, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the European Union (EU) and the private sector, organized an African Private Sector Summit on, "Righting the Wrongs of Doing Business in Africa" in March 2021. This summit brought together stakeholders from industry, governments, academia, and civil society. 

Attended virtually by three Presidents: Botswana, Rwanda (represented by a Minister) and Niger (represented by a Minister), one of the outcomes of the week-long event was a call for a Model Bill of Rights for an Enabling Business Environment in Africa to Enhance Implementation of AfCFTA. This is premised on the notion that an enabling operational environment for the private sector in Africa would help support the implementation of AfCFTA. The final Bill will be validated by stakeholders, including member States, universities, and civil society organisations (CSOs) for validation. 

The key objective of the Bill of Rights is intended to address pertinent issues for the seamless implementation of the RECs and AfCFTA protocols.  It is to help Universities produce a skill-set for private sector.

In this respect, it forms a cardinal part of the conversation triggered by the meeting for a concerted and sustained conversation between African private sector, academia, consumer organisations and citizens.

Funded under an EU/ECA project on advocacy and sensitization of AfCFTA, the following should, at a minimum, be explored and covered in proposing the Model Bill of Rights:

1. National trade policies

2. National monetary and fiscal policies

3. National investment policy 

4. The enabling environment for doing business in Africa in the context of judicial system.

5. Capacity constraints of businesses in Africa 

6. Role of multilateral and other international organizations in promoting business in Africa (WTO, UN/UNECA, AU, RECs, ITC, IMF, WB, Lending Institutions, etc.)

You can find more details in the link below:

https://careers.un.org/lbw/jobdetail.aspx?id=160911

In the meantime, we wish to notify the public that Series II commences in hybrid format here in Accra from 19-21 October, 2021. Series III will take place in Rwanda from 16-19 November under the theme "Action Plan for Implementation". 

FOR MORE INFORMATION & INTERVIEWS

E.K.Bensah Jr

Head of Communications Unit

Africa Private Sector Summit

Mobile: +233.268.687.653 / +233.55.833.85.47

Twitter: @ekbensah / @BizWrongs

Instagram: @ekbensah

www.facebook.com/africaprivatesectorsummit

Issued by:

E K Bensah Jr

+233.833.85.47

   

*MAIDEN REPORT OF #WAMKELESPEAKS*

*MAIDEN REPORT OF #WAMKELESPEAKS*

by _E.K.Bensah Jr_

*August 2021*

*Introduction*

On 24 June, 2021, Secretary-General of Afcfta made a 26-minute presentation at a "Summit", which was organised by regional integration think-tank, AfCFTA Policy Network, to assess the "State of AfCFTA Trading Six Months On". 

As part of continuous monitoring of Agenda 2063 and its seven aspirations, Deputy Executive Director of APN, E K Bensah Jr, undertook to examine his speech and identify the extent to which his speech reflected 7 aspirations of Agenda 2063. To this end, Bensah put his speech through an "APN-ometer".

*Methodology*

The 26-minute video was divided into five videos of around 4.5 minutes each to make it easier to pay greater attention to the rhythm of the speech and how closely Mene was sticking to Agenda 2063 aspirations. The 7 aspirations were tabulated against the videos and we measured which aspiration Mene was referring to in each video.

*Results*

In video 1, Mene refers to "market integration" and "seamless movement of goods and persons". This a reference to aspiration 2 that speaks to an "integrated continent". 

Video 2 also refers to market integration (aspiration 2), but touches on aspiration 1 when Mene argues that Africa has never had.this.opportunity before as a continent. This opportunity is consistent with aspiration 1, which calls for a prosperous continent. 

Video 3 also calls our attention to aspiration 1, which is a prosperous continent when Mene draws our attention to Africa's industrial capacity to be celebrated. It also refers to aspirations 6 and 7, when he announces that there will be a protocol in women and for a dynamic young population that will be "a huge market." Mene also announces there will be an Afcfta Business Forum for private sector and CSOs.

In Video 4, Mene refers to Pan-African Payment Settlement Systems platform, and how that will resolve the cost of currency convertibility. He also speaks to availability of an Adjustment Fund. These are consistent with aspirations 1 and 2. Aspirations 6 and 7 are revisited when Mene talks about the African Trade Gateway, where SMEs across the Continent can speak to each other; and how tariff will be an industrial tool. 

Finally, in video 5, Mene harks to aspiration 2 (an integrated continent), when he admonishes Africans on needing to implement daily challenges and difficulties, failing which we will not succeed. He concludes AfCFTA will benefit women in trade and SMEs, which speaks directly to aspiration 6, which calls for an inclusive and people-centred Africa where women and youth are included.

In the videos, there was no reference to aspirations 3 (good governance); 4 (peaceful and secure Africa); 5 (Africa with a strong, cultural identity). 

For us, Mene does very well speaking most of the time to aspirations 1, 6 and 7, but his speech needs to be more reflective of all 7 aspirations. Because of this, we will give him 4/7, just under 50%.

___________

*About #WamkeleSpeaks*

As part of innovating education on Agenda 2063, the office of Deputy Executive Director of APN in collaboration with AAUTV is introducing *#WamkeleSpeaks*

#WamkeleSpeaks is the start of an all-important project seeking to identify the extent to which speeches by the Secretary-General of AfCFTA  go to *streamlining 7 aspirations of Agenda 2063*

#WamkeleSpeaks will help continue the spirit of challenging people on education of 7 aspirations by getting them to think *how truly AfCFTA Secretariat is incorporating all 7 aspirations of Agenda 2063* and walking the talk of the AfCFTA being a flagship project of Agenda2063

*About Agenda2063 TV Show*

_As part of AfCFTA Policy Network's pioneering work on sensitization of AfCFTA, Deputy Executive Director E K Bensah Jr started hosting the Show in January 2020. He was headhunted by Association of African Universities (AAU) to host the uniquely-named Agenda 2063 Show on AAUTV.  It remains the only Show of its kind in Ghana, West Africa, and the Continent telling authentic stories about Africa's integration on a weekly basis, with a specific focus on reminding audiences about the centrality of Agenda 2063. You can view all videos on-demand at http://TV.aau.org/category/agenda-2063_