{"id":18079,"date":"2022-07-14T09:14:35","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T09:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality"},"modified":"2022-07-14T10:07:05","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T10:07:05","slug":"free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality","title":{"rendered":"Free trade area needs continental businesses to become a reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span><\/a>For the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to materialize, Africa needs business leaders capable of investing and operating beyond their domestic markets.
\nThe good news is that a small number of African corporates with a continental footprint already exists. The bad news is that the enabling environment that permits the private sector to play its historic role of wealth-creation is still missing.
\nAfCFTA to date has been a political project led by African politicians. Corporate Africa now has to play its own role of spreading investment and expertise beyond national borders.
\nThis is a considerable challenge. Not only is corporate Africa tiny, the number of African business leaders that operate beyond their domestic markets is even smaller.<\/p>\n

This can easily change, if African governments improve business environments. African business leaders operating beyond their home markets already exist: more can join them if the right steps are taken. Corporate South Africa leads the way in integrating the continent due its comparatively more sophisticated business environment.<\/p>\n

For example, South Africa\u2019s Standard Bank, which has a worldwide footprint, operates in the majority of sub-Saharan African countries including Mauritius, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and the whole of southern Africa.<\/p>\n

Similarly, South Africa\u2019s two mobile phone technology companies, Vodacom and MTN Group, operate Africa-wide. South Africa\u2019s Shoprite Group is the largest supermarket retailer on the African continent with a network of distribution centres across 15 states.
\nThe country is also home to Raymond Ackerman and his Pick \u2019n Pay, which has expanded to become the largest online grocery business in Africa. In Nigeria there is Aliko Dangote, the founder of the Dangote Group, the country\u2019s largest industrial conglomerate.<\/p>\n

Its operations span sugar production, flour, and cement in nearly a dozen African countries. Besides manufacturing cement in Obajana, Nigeria, Dangote Cement operates plants in countries including Zambia, Senegal, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
\nTribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa, who hails from Rwanda, manufactures cement and tobacco products in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Uganda, South Sudan, and Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Ayabatwa\u2019s PTG-Holding trades across eastern, central, southern and western Africa. In Zimbabwe, there is Strive Masiyiwa, the founder of Econet Wireless.
\nEconet operates in Lesotho, Burundi, Kenya, Botswana, Rwanda and Nigeria. Such companies, however, remain the exception rather than the rule. Unleashing AfCFTA above all requires radical reforms of business regulations.
\nThere are many businessmen and women capable of turning AfCFTA from dream into reality. However, if South African President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s claim that \u201cthere has never been a better time to invest in Africa\u201d is to have substance, African governments must remove persistent hindrances to doing business.
\nLet us be clear \u2013 the business environment is a discouraging proposition in most African countries. Setting up or dissolving a company can be a nightmare.<\/p>\n

Even where a one-stop centre already exists for easier and quicker business registration, commitment to such mechanisms remains questionable. The key question about AfCFTA, therefore, still revolves around African political leaders\u2019 commitment to regulatory reforms.<\/p>\n

The most urgently needed reforms include protecting investors\u2019 rights, enforcing contracts and creating insolvency frameworks. Put another way, to give AfCFTA a real chance to deliver prosperity, African governments have to undergo a revolutionary mindset change that allows genuine partnership with their business counterparts.<\/p>\n

This task is demonstrated by the World Bank\u2019s Doing Business Report that annually reviews the state of the regulatory environment of 190 countries. Africa\u2019s largest economy, Nigeria, is ranked 131st, while South Africa, the continent\u2019s second-largest is ranked 84th.
\nThe overwhelming majority of African countries are ranked between 100 and 190, thereby making Africa the world\u2019s least attractive region in terms of doing business.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. For the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to materialize, Africa needs business leaders capable of investing and operating beyond their domestic markets. The good news is that a small number of African corporates with a continental footprint already exists. The bad news is that the enabling environment that permits the private […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8,16],"tags":[242,233,245,241],"class_list":["post-18079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius"],"yoast_head":"\nFree trade area needs continental businesses to become a reality - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to materialize, Africa needs business l ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free trade area needs continental businesses to become a reality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to materialize, Africa needs business l ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-14T09:14:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-14T10:07:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_13-62cfeab046600.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"731\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"419\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Free trade area needs continental businesses to become a reality\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-14T09:14:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-14T10:07:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality\"},\"wordCount\":624,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_13-62cfeab046600.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"Mauritius\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/free-trade-area-needs-continental-businesses-to-become-a-reality\",\"name\":\"Free trade area needs continental businesses to become a reality - 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