"Trade is the Key to Unlock Africa's full Economic Potential..."​ Toyin Umesiri @ ASWAN Forum

 

Yesterday - March 4th, I had the honor of sharing the virtual stage with distinguished leaders around the world at the prestigious Aswan Forum hosted by the Government of Egypt under the auspice of H.E. Abdelfattah el-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The theme for my panel was "Harnessing Trade for a Peaceful and Prosperous Africa"

Also joining me on the panel were: - H.E. Ambassador Alan Wolff, Deputy Director-General World Trade Organization (WTO)

• H.E. Ambassador Albert M. Muchanga Commissioner For Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining - African Union Commission (AUC)

• - Dr. Stephen Karingi, Director for the Regional Integration and Trade Division United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

Below I share the full text of my prepared speech as a private sector player and the interventions Nazaru and the Trade with Africa® Platforms leverages to advance trade with Africa.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 2ND EDITION OF THE ASWAN FORUM

BY: TOYIN UMESIRI – CEO NAZARU LLC. & FOUNDER TRADE WITH AFRICA BUSINESS SUMMIT

DATE: MARCH 4TH, 2021

www.nazaru.com (twitter: @toyinumesiri @nazaru_official)

His Excellencies, fellow panelists, moderator - all other protocols duly observed. First I want to say thank you to the organizers of this incredible forum for the invitation. I also want to use this opportunity to thank H.E. Ambassador Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining at the African Union who is also on this panel with me for his partnership and support through the years and for accepting my invitation to Chicago to deliver a keynote on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) back in 2019. Our direct line of communication with his offices allows the trade, investor and buyer community I lead the opportunity to stay current on trade and investment related matters required for us to continue to successfully drive trade with Africa. I look forward to a time when we can bring everyone back together in person in Chicago again post Covid. For now we continue to leverage our digital platforms where trade and investment dialogue and engagements occur daily.

Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great time in history to be African. Despite Covid-19 impact, the stars still continue to align in our favor to support our common vision to advance trade, peace and security in Africa in order for us to achieve the Agenda 2063 delivered to us by the leadership of the African Union member states.

Trade is about wealth creation and it drives global wealth distribution. African nations must design robust strategies in order to capture new and emerging trade opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to empower women and the youth particularly at the grassroots levels. Trade is the key to unlocking Africa's full Economic potential.

So how then do we go about capturing increased trade opportunities? Allow me to share a few insights based on our years of research and work at Nazaru and the Trade with Africa® Platforms.

• All African nations need to prioritize Export Development and Export Promotion for Made in Africa products. Yes we know that AfCFTA has created a huge market for African products however only the nations that develop their exports will stand to benefit from this dynamic trade policy.
• We must secure Market Access and create enabling environment for our brothers and sisters from other African nations to thrive and win within our communities. This will ensure that we all win together as One African Market.
• Industrialization is required to create and develop new economies across the continent through strategic partnerships.
• Capacity Mobilization efforts must be prioritized and fast-tracked for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the continent to secure opportunities at the grassroots levels.
• We must also embrace a “Digital first mindset” and we must build the necessary underlining infrastructure needed to accelerate technology adoption across the continent and also digitize access to Trade Information to increase transparency and build trust in the system.
• The Youth of Africa must be equipped to compete with the rest of the world when it comes to Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence through adoption and acceleration of a true 5G backbone.
• We must also strengthen supply chains and develop the Agriculture Value Chain to drive speed of product movement from the farm to the market or to the Retail's physical or digital Shelf.

These are a few of what we tackle daily on our Business to Business and Business to Government global Network (Trade with Africa® Network) where investors, buyers, exporters, government, and diaspora engage daily to advance Trade with Africa.

"One thing remains clear to me; Foreign Aid is a crunch that can never hold the weight of Africa’s current ambitions and because of this we must mobilize the private sector and grow Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) required for our economic recovery."

The Trade with Africa Business Summit is Private sector led engagement and supported by government agencies, Associations, Chambers of Commerce and Trade Financing Institutions such as the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Export-Import Bank of the United States of America.

"Africa’s Private sector must continue to be strengthened because the prosperity and peace for all of Africa rely on the prosperity and the advancement of Africa’s Private sector players."

As the world continues to turn its ears to Africa we must ensure that we have a collective message and a strong voice that is clear, loud and persistent. We must share with the world who we are as a people – our true identity and what it is we demand from our partners and all those who wish to engage in our markets. Africa must now race to create a dynamic future that allows our people to compete effectively in the global marketplace and become a force under the AfCFTA.

MY CLOSING REMARKS

The Trade with Africa Framework that we developed highlights investment focus areas to accelerate growth and development on the Continent.

For example we highlight the Agriculture Value Chain, Manufacturing, Retail (digital and physical), Infrastructure Development, Enabling Policies, Fiscal Responsibility underpinned by Education, Technology, Security, Healthcare and Human Capacity development. These are all areas that each Government must pay attention to if they want to remain relevant in the future. The journey is long however we can focus on laying a solid foundation today that would secure the future of Africa for generations to come.

The real currency of trade is actually TRUST. We must find ways to build trust back into the Africa systems, continue to design enabling policies that protects investments and accelerate the adoption of technology for sustained economic growth. This is the perfect time for Africa to leap frog ahead the rest of the world and we do not need to recreate other people's past, when we can create the future for the rest of the world. In order to do this successfully we must INNOVATE.

BUT

I leave you with this parting words:

"There is no innovation without collaboration and there is no collaboration without Association and there is no association without relation and there is no relation without trust.... "

Let us rebuild trust so that we can build together the Africa We Want (Agenda 2063). God bless you all and Thank you again.

Toyin Umesiri is the CEO of Nazaru LLC., Founder of the Trade with Africa Business Summit and she leads the Trade with Africa® Network; a fast growing community of Trade experts, Government officials, Policy makers, Investors, Exporters, Service providers, Diaspora leaders and Innovators advancing Trade with Africa®. She is a trusted Adviser and Business Coach to Retail, Trade and Investment Stakeholders around the world.

For business inquiries email: here: info@toyinumesiri.com

Bonus: 📺Watch below: my Export Promotion engagement with: Deputy Director/Regional Coordinator - Nigeria Export Promotion Agency (NEPC) Mr. Arnold Jackson