Africa-Press – Eritrea. The US has launched a signature trade platform, Africa Trade Desk to link large food retailers in US to African producers.
Countries who export to the market are set to benefit from the programme by streamlining business for farmers and addressing logistics and overseas marketing hurdles.
The initiative seeks to aggregate products from African suppliers, secure firm orders from an established network of US buyers, and access financial resources to fund large orders.
It also aims to mentor and scale African suppliers for success in the US market.
On the other hand, it seeks to support US retailers in diversifying their sourcing, reduce dependencies on traditional supply chains, and embrace high-quality, sustainable products from Africa.
The trade desk further seeks to establish a secure supply chain from Africa to US retailers by consolidating logistics, insurance and track technology from producers’ farm to the retailer.
Initially, according to the US government, the focus will be on specialty food products such as seafood, peppadews, stone fruit, citrus and high-value herbs and vegetables.
Generally, the programme aims to boost agricultural products exports from the continent by about 10 per cent.
Commenting on the initiative, USAID deputy administrator Isobel Coleman said Africa is a powerhouse of promise, one of the major reasons that prompted them to consider enhancing trade-ties through the platform.
“This year, the continent is poised to be the world’s second fastest-growing region. Africa is also home to 12 of the 20 fastest growing economies on the planet, and by 2040, Africa will have the largest workforce in the world, larger than China and India combined,” Coleman said.
“The United States is eager to partner with Africa to harness this potential, helping generate broadly shared opportunity and prosperity that benefits families and communities across the continent, and sustainable growth that benefits economies across the world.”
She added that among the other reasons that advised the initiative’s roll out, was the noticeable hurdles African producers were going through to trade with the US despite their zeal to sell to the market.
The trade desk is a public-private partnership between Prosper Africa and Afritex Ventures, and is set to facilitate at least $300 million (Sh39.5 billion) in export sales between Africa and the United States within the next 18 months.
Prosper Africa is a US government initiative that connects its market and African businesses with new buyers, suppliers, and investment opportunities.
Data by Trading Economics shows imports from Africa in the United States reached $3,140.75 million in January this year with the record averaging $3,830.99 million from 1997 until 2024, reaching an all time high of $12,546.60 million in 2008.
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