The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has launched a single electronic window that brings together key parts of Africa’s digital ecosystem for trade.
The Africa trade gateway (ATG) is one portal that gives access to five digital platforms – customer due diligence platform Mansa; the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a scheme that enables payment for intra-African trade in national currencies; the Tradar Club, a network for international businesses aimed at fostering growth in Africa; e-commerce platform the Africa trade exchange and ATG Connect, which provides freight and logistics connectivity solutions.
Launched last week during Afreximbank’s annual meeting in Ghana in conjunction with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat, the ATG is designed to support and promote intra-African trade, including the implementation of the AfCFTA, Afreximbank says.
“Each one of our digital interventions is designed to address clearly identified challenges and barriers for those seeking to engage in African trade and investment,” Kanayo Awani, executive vice-president, Intra-African Trade Bank, said, speaking at the meeting.
The gateway is intended to “quicken regional integration, extend and create new access markets and accelerate the digital economy in Africa”, Awani said, adding that customers will be able to complete all their transactions within the one window.
The AfCFTA was signed in 2018 with the intention of creating a single African market for goods and services. Digitalisation remains vital to this process, as Rwanda’s minister of trade and industry, Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze, pointed out in a recent discussion of the AfCFTA’s progress.