The training programme is conducted in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC) under the framework of the Botswana Exporter Development Programme (BEDP) and will feature modules such as “the Opportunity of Intra-African Trade, Getting your Business Ready for Export, Researching African Markets, Developing an African Market, Market Access Conditions, Financing Intra-African Trade as well as others on continental logistics and standards. AfCFTA is the continental trade deal finalised last year, seen as Africa’s single biggest economic game-changer.
In an interview, BITC CEO, Olebile Keletsositse told BusinessWeek that the organisation felt compelled to help build capacity for local industries in order to boost understanding and utilisation of the AfCFTA.
“The AfCFTA agreement connects 1.3 billion people across 54 countries with a combined GDP valued at US$3.4 trillion. There is a great deal of opportunity for Batswana with the AfCFTA,” he said.
Botswana signed onto the AfCFTA in 2018 together with other countries, as an agreement in principle to the continental trade deal. However, the country only ratified in February last year, being the 51st to do so, out of 54. In depositing its instruments of ratification, Botswana pledged its commitment to the African Union Agenda 2063 that seeks to make it possible for all Africans to trade with ease.
The AfCFTA is potentially the world’s largest trade area developed under the auspices of the African Union to enable the free flow of goods and services across the continent. Analysts say the AfCFTA has the potential to boost the continent’s trading position in the global market.
