Nigeria’s Zenith Bank has announced a signed Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) of $1 million with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The deal signed by the Group CEO of Zenith Bank, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, and the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene at the ongoing 2023 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar, is to develop a trade portal in Africa.
Speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director talked about the need to bolster Africa’s wealth. He established that one of the many ways to channel this vision into reality is to create a single African trade portal. According to him, the portal will significantly facilitate trade among African countries, and demonstrate the bank’s commitment as a bank to digitization in African countries.
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The African trade portal
According to the Zenith Bank Group CEO, Zenith will develop the smart AfCFTA portal which will serve as a straight portal. The purpose of this portal is to showcase African products and services as well as the locations they can be found.
“Through the development of this portal, one of the capabilities we are going to build in there is that you can see it in every part of Africa and market your products and services. You can see it in every part of Africa and identify whatever products and services you require that are in Africa”, he explained.
He said according to reports on Q1 exports, 46.43% of non-oil exports in Nigeria were exported to Europe, 24.85% to Asia, 18.39% to the USA, and 10.27% to the rest of Africa. He added that the new AfCFTA portal will be a “look for it in Africa before you look elsewhere” system. That is, varieties of products and services will be provided in Africa before Africans can explore other countries for such services and products.
Consequently, he reiterated that Africans need to take charge and lead others to follow. Also, the idea of the African continental free trade zone will revive the fortune of Nigeria and other African countries.
At the seminar, the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA commended Zenith Bank for the idea of a smart trade portal for Africa and for funding it to the tune of $1 million.
About AFCTA
African Continental Free Trade Area was established with the objective of significantly fostering intra-Africa trade, particularly trade in value-added products and trade across all sectors of Africa’s economy. With 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight (8) Regional Economic Communities, ACFTA has been one of the largest free trade areas.
It also contributes to the establishment of regional value chains in Africa, and practical implementation of the AfCFTA potential such as industrialization, job creation, and investment, thus enhancing the competitiveness of Africa in the medium to long term.
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