By Olamilekan FAWAS
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says the bank is developing a pan-African payment platform that will tackle the challenges of multiple currencies among African countries.
The Managing Director, Intra-African Trade Initiative of Afreximbank, Ms Kanayo Awani, said this on Monday in Abuja, while briefing newsmen on the 2018 Intra-African Trade Fair.
Awani said the platform would assist in capturing mostly small scale businesses and formalise their trading activities.
According to her, the platform will ensure payments through e-mobile transactions across different continental blocks, while promoting a low rate of 12 per cent intra-African trade.
“We are working on a pan-African settlement platform to improve payment mechanisms for intra-African trade and the mobile transactions will help to formalise the huge informal trade.
“The payment platform will address concern of currency in cross-border trade. It will see various African countries trade deals, inter-connect various buyers and sellers in their local currencies with their respective banks in a hitch-free mobile transaction.
“We are looking at launching the platform in December or latest first quarter of 2019 to ensure we formalise our trade deals in the continent.
“And the trade fair is one of our instruments in promoting the continental free trade; we are trying to connect buyers and sellers together in the trade,” Kanayo said.
The Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Olusegun Awolowo, expressed similar concern of the low volume of intra-African trade.
“Africa is not really trading enough with Africa. It is easier to move goods from Nigeria to Paris ports than even Ivory Coast because of infrastructure challenges.
“We in NEPC will be working more closely with Afreximbank toward having freight and shipping system that will grow and improve intra African trade linking various continental blocs.
“And the Trade fair initiative being promoted by the Afreximbank is strategic in connecting the whole of African countries together, connecting buyers and various regional blocks in the continent,” he said.
Awolowo said the trade fair would assist in promoting Nigeria’s trade brand.
He said the fair would be of benefit to Nigeria, especially as the country was concentrating more on processed commodities, rather than exporting raw materials.
