Alternative Africa

Top Menu

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • More
    • Health
    • News Now
    • Technology
    • World
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account

Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

logo

Alternative Africa

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • More
    • Health
    • News Now
    • Technology
    • World
  • Victory for football as protesters force Premiership greedy six to withdraw from European Super League

  • Fresh concerns in South Africa after 130 more succumb to Covid-19

  • UK begins search for new antiviral drug to treat coronavirus, supplement vaccines

  • Derek Chauvin, disgraced cop who killed George Floyd found guilty of murder, faces 75 years in jail

  • Super League Sponsors approach court for pre-emptive injunction against UEFA, FIFA ban

News Now
Home›News Now›Afreximbank, UNECA begin data collection on West Africa’s informal trade

Afreximbank, UNECA begin data collection on West Africa’s informal trade

By alternativeafrica
July 11, 2019
644
1
Share:

London, July 11, 2019 (AltAfrica)-The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) have announced a partnership to conduct a one-year pilot project to collect data on informal cross-border trade (ICBT) along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor in West Africa.

Afreximbank is funding the project

The project which is part of Afreximbank’s effort to promote intra-African trade and support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), was announced during a ceremony on the sidelines of the AfCFTA Business Forum organised as part of the African Union’s Summit of Heads of State being held to mark the implementation phase of the AfCFTA.

Afreximbank, UNECA begin data collection on West Africa’s informal trade

Speaking during the grant ceremony, Ms. Awani of Afreximbank noted that the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor connects the major urban centres of five countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), namely Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo, and said that ICBT could play a key role toward the attainment of the structural transformation and poverty reduction objectives contained in the AU’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.

READ ALSO: NIGERIA, SENEGAL THROUGH TO AFCON 2019 SEMI-FINALS

Ms. Awani explained that the informal economy employed the majority of Africans and that a large proportion of people engaged in that economy operated as informal traders, yet official trade statistics typically only captured formal trade, thereby contributing to a lack of recognition of ICBT’s important economic role.

Afreximbank finances the data collection exercise

“In the absence of sufficient formal opportunities, ICBT is crucial to addressing vital issues of income generation, job creation, and food and energy security, particularly for Africa’s most vulnerable people, such as women and youth, who usually constitute the majority of informal cross border traders,” she said.

According to Ms. Awani, the first step to effectively reflecting the special needs of informal traders in national, regional and continental policy frameworks is to identify the scale, magnitude and characteristics of informal cross-border trade. That was why the UNECA-Afreximbank ICBT pilot project focused on data collection.

She added that information on the scale, magnitude and characteristics of informal cross-border trade would facilitate tailored investment and policy planning to overcome the challenges of ICBT. The data collected by the study would help to point out the lending instruments and interventions that were needed to respond to the specific financing challenges faced by informal cross-border traders.

David Luke, Coordinator of UNECA’s African Trade Policy Centre, said that the project would build on the East African ICBT methodology which currently served as the best practice on the continent. That would help to ensure harmonization and comparability across Africa.

Mr. Luke added that an android tool had been developed for cost effective and efficient data collection.

The data collection exercise is to begin in September and last four-months in order to account for seasonal trends and fluctuations.

The final outputs of the project will be launched in early 2020 and will include a comprehensive report detailing the scale, characteristics and challenges of ICBT along the corridor and a harmonized manual for ICBT data collection for the ECOWAS region to feed into the ECOWAS Regional Informal Trade Regulatory Support Programme.

SHARE ON:
TagsAfreximbankDataInformal sectorUNECAWest Africa
Previous Article

Nigeria, Senegal through to AFCON 2019 semi-finals

Next Article

Nigerian Entrepreneur, Tony Elumelu takes gender advocacy ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

alternativeafrica

Related articles More from author

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    AU, UN agency, ECA raise $20m to support African female businesses

    February 11, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaNews NowTechnology

    Africa could expand economy by staggering $1.5 trillion with Artificial Intelligence

    February 27, 2021
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    Border Closure: Nigerian imports drop by N127bn, exports up to N1.14tn

    December 31, 2019
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    ECA aiming to become Africa’s premier think tank, Vera Songwe tells African Ambassadors

    October 18, 2018
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaBusinessEnvironmentNews Now

    PEG Africa raises $25m for off-grid solar expansion in West Africa

    March 28, 2019
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaBusinessFeatureHealthNews Now

    Afreximbank, ITFC, others launch $1.5b facility to support African economies post covid-19

    November 5, 2020
    By alternativeafrica

1 comment

  1. Nigerian Entrepreneur, Tony Elumelu takes gender advocacy to Ivanka Trump in the White House | Alternative Africa 11 July, 2019 at 02:01 Reply

    […] Afreximbank, UNECA begin data collection on West Africa’s informal trade […]

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You might be interested

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    Why we must develop special Economic Zones for Nigeria’s Industrialisation-Minister

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    Nigeria: Finally, NNPC, Shell, others agree to go ahead with NLNG Train 7

  • HealthNews NowWorld

    COVID-19 causes long-term damage to lungs, heart, brain-Health experts

Timeline

  • April 21, 2021

    Victory for football as protesters force Premiership greedy six to withdraw from European Super League

  • April 21, 2021

    Fresh concerns in South Africa after 130 more succumb to Covid-19

  • April 21, 2021

    UK begins search for new antiviral drug to treat coronavirus, supplement vaccines

  • April 20, 2021

    Derek Chauvin, disgraced cop who killed George Floyd found guilty of murder, faces 75 years in jail

  • April 20, 2021

    Super League Sponsors approach court for pre-emptive injunction against UEFA, FIFA ban

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Morocco begins regional integration by connecting Casablanca Airport with High Speed Train

    By alternativeafrica
    January 4, 2020
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Archbishop of Canterbury hosts Leah Sharibu’s mother in London

    By alternativeafrica
    February 21, 2020
  • Macron in Ivory Coast to launch anti-terrorism academy

    By alternativeafrica
    December 21, 2019
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack followed a ...
  • chibueze evarlistus ogbonnaya
    on
    July 22, 2020

    Gambia promotes policewoman who controls traffic despite heavy rain

    This is Awesome
AlternativeAfrica.com is an independent Pan African News Website dedicated primarily to influencing the negative narratives about Africa. We hope to do this by focusing and showcasing the many developmental strides sweeping across the continent.

Read more >>>

Contact Info

  • info@alternativeafrica.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Victory for football as protesters force Premiership greedy six to withdraw from European Super League

    By alternativeafrica
    April 21, 2021
  • Fresh concerns in South Africa after 130 more succumb to Covid-19

    By alternativeafrica
    April 21, 2021
  • UK begins search for new antiviral drug to treat coronavirus, supplement vaccines

    By alternativeafrica
    April 21, 2021
  • Derek Chauvin, disgraced cop who killed George Floyd found guilty of murder, faces 75 years ...

    By alternativeafrica
    April 20, 2021
  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Morocco begins regional integration by connecting Casablanca Airport with High Speed Train

    By alternativeafrica
    January 4, 2020
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Macron in Ivory Coast to launch anti-terrorism academy

    By alternativeafrica
    December 21, 2019
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack followed a ...

Photostream

    "); $('.flicker-popup-link').magnificPopup({ type: 'image', closeOnContentClick: true, closeBtnInside: false, fixedContentPos: true, mainClass: 'mfp-no-margins mfp-with-zoom', // class to remove default margin from left and right side image: { verticalFit: true }, gallery: { enabled: true }, zoom: { enabled: true, duration: 600, // duration of the effect, in milliseconds easing: 'ease', // CSS transition easing function opener: function(element) { return element.find('img'); } } }); }); }); });

    Follow us

    • Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
    © Copyright Alternative Africa 2017 - 2021. All rights reserved.