We can fix Africa ourselves by trading more

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OPINION

By Simon Kaheru

Last week, in Cairo, I joined a large group of African leaders involved in growing trade across our borders to talk about fixing something about Africa.

The majority of people in the hall were government officials in charge of very many ministries of trade from all over this continent. They were appropriately present as the key focus of the meeting was to dialogue with the private sector on implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Nothing about the grand aspiration behind those initials can happen, if the private sector does not do it, as the secretary general, Wamkele Mene, repeatedly said.

At the start of the meeting, we were tickled to be told we had to evacuate the room to allow for it to be re-organised. About an hour later, we returned to find that the private sector seats had been moved from the back to the front of one side of the room, alongside the ministers.

That, on its own, was a great sign.

We were going to speak as equals in an equation that required us both to be seriously involved and engaged.

Afreximbank took centre stage as it does at such events, because they understand their assignment.

The bank is owned by most of us — Africans — through the governments that contribute to it, as well as some private investors.

During the discussions, I kept piping up about how much more we need to know about such things.

We continually frustrate ourselves on this continent simply because we focus on the wrong things most of the time. We cannot blame ‘the colonisers’ fully for this, even if there is a historical contribution that lingers on in our brains.

One of the two big ticket items on the agenda was how we urgently needed to develop the textile sector on this continent. As usual at such meetings, I highlighted my East African shirt (fabric plus design plus obvious look) versus the European suits and ties the vast majority in the room wore.

The message will never get boring until we all understand it. The irony in that room as we discussed the African textile industry clad in European clothing and speaking English and French was thicker than the tension when I raised this.

Africans have lost a lot of time doing the wrong things. We now need to be serious about the obvious right things we need to do.

During the meeting, one Afreximbank official told us about the Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) initiative, and another told us about the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).

The Africa Trade Gateway is a platform that anyone out here — you and I and the woman who sells tomatoes at a roadside kiosk near you — can use to trade across the continent.

You go online, register onto it and then get linked to financiers, suppliers, buyers, potential business partners...and so on and so forth. It is a trading online dating service.

Nobody is too small to conduct business and trade across these African borders — we are just too ignorant. And I insist it is ignorance because we already know how to trade online, most of us.

I tell people almost every weekend about how easy some people’s businesses have become because of online platforms like jiji.ug. The jiji web platform exists in many countries across Africa and connects buyers to sellers of all kinds. Go check it out yourself, for more.

According to the internet, the jiji platform attracts more than 50 million visits per month. Couldn’t your business do with such numbers?

Africans are also using other online shopping platforms like Shein and Aliexpress or Ali Baba, which deliver products here from China et al. The same Africans are out here ignorant about ATG...

PAPSS? This amazingly sensible solution eases trade for you by enabling you to use one currency across different countries (simply put).

What the system does is make it seamless for you to sell something to an Ethiopian in Uganda shillings for them to buy it using Ethiopian Birr, and nobody has to use a calculator or discuss heavily.

Instead, what are we doing out here?

Talking about politicians and complaining about ‘the economy’ and other problems.

We are all to blame for this — public and private sector — and because of that, we need to get together more often to fix it.

Even as the workshop progressed, I texted a Bank of Uganda official to ask what they were doing to make more Ugandans know about PAPSS, and other private sector leaders to ask about the ATG.

Frustrating conversations have ensued, but I will not stop. I am also registering myself onto these platforms because I realise something has to start with me.

Everything about this Africa of ours needs to be fixed urgently; and it can only be fixed by Africans — all of us: Me and then You.

www.skaheru.com @skaheru