The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and United Bank for Africa (UBA) signed an agreement on Tuesday to provide financial support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within the AfCFTA to boost intra-Africa trade.
Worth mentioned that the agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Afreximbank Annual Meeting 2023 taking place in Accra, Ghana.
The agreement is also intended to catalyze industrialization to improve the socioeconomic well-being of the continent., according to the “Ahram Online” website.
According to the McKinsey consulting firm, Africa’s 85-95 million SMEs account for 80% of the continent’s private sector employment, which makes their growth extremely important.
The agreement acknowledges the need to bolster formal and informal economic operators, including women and youth.
It also aims to break down the barriers to intra-Africa trade and productivity, including SME access to finance and markets.
Under the agreement, the UBA will provide financial services to SMEs in four main areas: agro-processing, automotive, pharmaceuticals, transport, and logistics.
During the signing, Wamkele Mene, secretary-general of the AfCFTA Secretariat, noted that the support offered by the UBA, “will enable SMEs to achieve industrial-driven growth and export development in Africa.”
For his part, Muyiwa Akinyemi, deputy managing director at UBA, observed that the bank has a robust network spread across 20 countries on the continent.
“In UBA, we say your small business is big business,” he said
The agreement will “make the continental free trade area a reality,” Akinyemi concluded.
