On Wednesday 7 October 2020, The Africa Business Chamber (AfBC) hosted the UK-Trade Trade and Investment Conference under the theme “Boosting Trade Linkages and Value Chains Between the UK and Africa – Unlocking and Capturing New Business Growth Opportunities” which brought together business leaders, government officials, investment diaspora, business experts, policy makers, academia and professionals from across various sectors around the world.
With over 30 million Africans living outside of their home countries, the continent’s diaspora has the potential to be a major source of development financing, skills and growth opportunities. The Summit explored investment and economic opportunities in the African region for global companies seeking new channels and consumer market growth, changes in local business climate, key trends and best practices to operate successfully on the continent.
With the introduction of the African Free Trade Continental Agreement, the official withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit) and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers are prompted to act fast in order to seize opportunities that these events offer while resetting the United Kingdom – Africa trade relations to result in an emergence of a win-win partnership. In 2016, Africa’s exports to the UK stood at US$16.89 billion, registering a marginal 1.96% increase. On the flipside, there is untapped export potential from Africa to the U.K which depicts significant trade deficit gaps.
The aim is to strength multilateral relationships between the UK’s partnership with African nations, in order to build a secure and prosperous future for all its citizens through the mobilization of new and sustainable investments thus resulting in the creation of jobs and the boosting of mutual prosperity through the frameworks of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and the global trade Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The AfCFTA is estimated bring Africa annual income gains of US$134 billion per year, as it creates the largest free trade area by the number of countries with an amalgamated market size worth more than US$3 trillion, consumer business spending over US$6.7 trillion and free movement of about 1.3 billion people.
This prestigious gathering saw a number of world leaders coming together with the same goal in mind – to grow and foster the trade between the United Kingdom and Africa. Among the notable change makers in attendance were Keith Stoke Smith, Lord Dolar Popat, Emma Wade OBE, Andrew Mold, Dr El-hadj Baj as Keynote Speakers. Washington Kapapiro, President of the Global African Business Club, engaged all the leaders on ‘The Role of African Diaspora and Remittances’ with a core focus on the impact that economic development presents in the context of UK and African trade.
Written by Molebogeng Assegaai