The Egyptian-African Businessmen Association held a workshop entitled “Maximizing Opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area”, on Tuesday, March 29th.
The workshop was held under the chairmanship of Dr. Yousry El-Sharqawy, President of the African Egyptian Association, and its representative in the State of Nigeria, and the workshop was attended by “Francis Annatogo”, Executive Secretary of the National Action Committee on the African Free Trade Zone, “Dr. O’Leary” President of the Trade Without Borders Network, and “Victor Chokogo, Executive Director of VOC Royal Resources, Jo Eta, Regional Coordinator for Nigerian Export Promotion, and Shehu Abdulkadir, Managing Director of the Abuja Foundation Agency.
The workshop aimed to discuss how to enable small and medium-sized companies to qualify products and services for export, maximize investment opportunities, make the most appropriate use of resources, and support development.
Dr. Yousrey Elsharkawi, President of the Association, started the workshop with an opening speech and welcomed the speakers from Nigeria, expressing his happiness with the launch of the workshop, stressing that the Association attaches great importance to the African trade movement, and also stressed that the African Free Trade Area creates a huge market for African goods and services and that it will stimulate industry and trade between African countries.
Francis Annatogo, Executive Secretary of the National Action Committee on the African Continental Free Trade Zone, noted that Nigeria is seeking to implement the agreement and that his country is on the right track; To enable its services to cross the borders and set off in the brown continent.
Anatogo added that his country plans to implement a navigational transport project; To transport products from north to south, he said, “We are trying to get a proper study of the project and then start implementing it around the African continent. These projects are an invitation to investors to overcome transportation challenges.”
Dr. Olori, President of the Trade Without Borders Network, spoke about the export services mentioned in the African Free Trade Agreement.
Olori added that the development of services is necessary in order to enhance productivity, and growth, reduce poverty, and create job opportunities in Africa.
She pointed out that the importance of commercial services and their regulations is not limited to providing promising opportunities but also affects the production of most services and goods, and at the conclusion of her event, she emphasized that women have a wonderful representation in the service sector.
In this context, Victor Chokogo, Executive Director of VOC Royal Resources, emphasized that when exporting, we look at the product in terms of its quality and export standards.
He added that the countries we can export to are: Asia, Morocco, Egypt, and Libya, and we take into account the distances during transportation, whether the transportation is land, sea, or air.
He stressed that we have to know the needs of the countries to which we intend to export, and after that, it is necessary to know the exports and also the special procedures and standards that must comply with them.
Joe Eta, the Regional Coordinator for Nigerian Export Promotion, pointed out the need to think about countries’ marketing readiness, financial readiness, readiness in many respects, and rules, knowing which companies are willing to help to do this easily.
He stressed the need to provide space for what we think about and what we work for, and said, “If we look at the products ready for export, we will find that they are numerous. We have a lot of competitive products, and we can start with these existing and available products.
He stressed the need to ask a number of questions, namely:
• How ready is the market for export?
• What products are in demand?
• How much is the packing price and expertise you need?
• What are the price and tax documentation and procedures?
“We are trying to reach the neighboring areas and suburbs so that we can enter the markets,” said Shehu Abdul Qadir, managing director of the Abuja Foundation Agency.
Shehu added that we have agencies represented in multiple regions, and he stressed his happiness in cooperating with clients to find suitable mechanisms and agencies that share the same standards as us, based on 16 years of experience.
Today, Ice casino is very popular among players who want to get high-quality service and a great gaming experience. Use bonuses to improve your gaming experience.
He expressed his happiness at presenting and enhancing this commercial mission, stressing that his country is trying to raise efficiencies and absorptive capacity as well, adding that all countries of the brown continent are making the same efforts, not only Nigeria.
In conclusion, Dr. Yousrey Elsharkawi stressed that there are many gains that accrue to the brown continent through the optimal exploitation of the African Free Trade Area.