The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will launch its US$7 billion (Sh890 billion) fund to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nairobi, Secretary General Wamkele Mene has revealed.
Speaking after meeting Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya, Mene said the fund will be expanded after its launch as several financial institutions have already declared their support.
Mvurya said the US$7 billion fund as a good start for Africa’s SMEs.
“The US$7 billion is a good start but a drop in the ocean when you look at the number of SMEs in Africa. However, I must say that the launch of the fund will be a step in the right direction,” he said.
The date of the launch is yet to be confirmed.
The AfCFTA Secretariat has committed to mobilise the money to bolster the development of small and medium-scale enterprises led by youth across Africa.
Mene noted that 48 countries have ratified the agreement establishing AfCFTA, a free trade area encompassing most of Africa.
“We have a strong political momentum and legal foundation to transition from negotiations to implementation,” he said.
AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063 Africa’s development framework.
The AfCFTA aims at accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.
The agreement establishing the AfCFTA was signed on March 21, 2019, in Kigali, Rwanda.
The pact connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion.
Mene encouraged African countries to be party to the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, a cross-border, financial market infrastructure enabling payment transactions across Africa.
“So far, a total of 115 commercial banks and 15 central banks in Africa have signed on to the platform. We are encouraging more banks to be part of the system,” he said.
The system connects African banks, payment service providers, and other financial market intermediaries, enabling instant and secure payments between African countries.
