Bulawayo, (New Ziana) – Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been implored to start preparing to trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols by attending tailor-made training being offered by various stakeholders.
Speaking on the side-lines of a training session on AfCFTA rules of origin here, organised by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), Bulawayo Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises chairperson, Coustine Ngwenya, noted that most SMEs lack appreciation of the AfCFTA agreement, adding that this would disadvantage them as they will fail to understand and follow procedures and protocols needed.
He cited poor attendance of the training by the SMEs as a cause for concern. Rules of origin regulate and determine the “economic nationality” of a product. They specify the conditions that a product needs to fulfill to be considered to originate in the free trade area. “I am not happy about the low attendance of the training by SMEs because this workshop is very educative and small businesses were going to benefit a lot. The training is an eye opener.
“A number of SMEs don’t have adequate information of what is happening in the market and these are good and rare opportunities that we should grab. The training is very informative to us and it will help us to explore business angles which are not open to us,” he said. Zimbabwe Leather Development Council Secretary, Jacob Nyathi said the training on AfCFTA rules of origin was important to equip local small and medium scale enterprises to compete in the expanded African market.
“To learn about the AfCFTA rules of origin is good for low hanging fruit industries like the leather, clothing where we have a comparative advantage in terms of our skills and manufacturing background. The skills are already there, technology may be old but skill and technical know-how is there,” he said.
The objective of the AfCFTA is to create an integrated continental market for goods and services, as well as free movement of people and capital. With members having a combined Gross Domestic Product of an estimated US$3.4 trillion, AfCFTA has a market of 1.3 billion people. By eliminating business barriers, AfCFTA seeks to boost intra-African trade, and help grow the continent’s economy.
New Ziana
