AfCFTA SME Booster workshop equips local businesses
staff writer | Wednesday August 19, 2026 06:00
Secretariat for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which commenced trading in 2021 with a market size of over 1.2 billion people, recently, announced an initiative to build a pipeline of export ready small businesses across regions. Through the AfCFTA SME Booster Programme, micro enterprises will be prepared to participate in regional value chains, empowered to accessing new markets and secure commercial opportunities. Last week, the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship, in collaboration with the AfCFTA Secretariat, hosted a three-day Regional Capacity Building Programme for Business Support Organisations (BSOs) and women and youth led SMEs in Gaborone. Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Gideon Mmolawa, highlighted that SMEs are the heartbeat of the economy. However, they continue to face significant barriers for cross-border trade, including limited market intelligence, inadequate export preparedness, and financing constraints, he said.
The AfCFTA SME Booster Programme is being implemented through five regional cohorts covering West, Southern, East, Central and North Africa. It adopts an ecosystem approach that combines enterprise development, institutional strengthening, market access, business matchmaking, trade intelligence and structured engagement with buyers, financiers, logistics providers and AfCFTA Trading Companies. “The objectives of the workshop is to Increase the number of African businesses successfully trading across borders, help SMEs become export-ready and access regional and continental markets and Strengthen business support organisations (BSOs) so they can better assist SMEs,” stated the ministry. “Also to reduce barriers such as certification costs, customs procedures, logistics challenges, limited finance and lack of market information and encourage businesses to think beyond their national and SADC markets and target the 1.4 billion-person African market.”
According to the AfCFTA Secretariat representative, the aim is to move businesses beyond awareness and training towards actual trade participation, commercial transactions, regional value chain integration and sustainable business growth under the AfCFTA. Officials said the initiative provides SMEs with practical capabilities in areas such as export readiness, Rules of Origin, standards and certification, market intelligence, logistics and cross-border trade. At the same time, BSOs are equipped to become stronger trade advisers and market facilitators within their national and regional ecosystems. The programme has already recorded commercial outcomes through its regional interventions. During the Biashara Afrika 2026 in Lomé, Togo, the Secretariat launched the AfCFTA SME Deal Room, a structured platform designed to connect SMEs with buyers and commercial partners and move business discussions towards concrete transactions. Over three days, the Deal Room identified 38 commercial opportunities valued at more than US$2.77 million across eight countries and six sectors. Twenty business leads entered structured follow-up, 16 meetings were scheduled and one transaction worth US$500,000 was concluded during the event.
Agribusiness has also emerged as an important area of opportunity. Through collaboration with the International Trade Centre, 12 agribusiness SMEs from eight African countries generated 86 business engagements. Amongst the outcomes was a $1.08 million letter of intent secured by a cocoa cooperative from the Democratic Republic of Congo. A South African producer also sold its entire stock to a buyer in Togo, while a Tanzanian agro-processor entered negotiations for annual supply contracts with a Togolese buyer. These outcomes have reinforced the Secretariat's view that training alone is insufficient to enable SMEs to succeed in continental markets.
'Training alone is not enough. Businesses need continued access to buyers, market intelligence, finance, logistics providers and commercial partners if they are to succeed beyond the workshop room,' said the Secretariat representative.
To sustain this support, the Secretariat has introduced a Virtual Capacity Building Series, which connects SMEs, BSOs and market actors through continuous learning, peer exchange and business development. Another pillar of the programme is the growing network of AfCFTA Trading Companies. There are currently 21 Trading Companies operating across 10 African countries, with additional companies in development. They support SMEs through aggregation, warehousing, logistics, trade finance, insurance and connections to buyers and regional distribution networks. With the rollout of the Southern Africa cohort and subsequent interventions in other regions, the Secretariat aims to establish a continent-wide pipeline of export-ready SMEs and stronger BSOs capable of turning AfCFTA market access into sustainable commercial opportunities.