Pan African financial institution the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, have launched the Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) – a suite of five digital platforms that have been designed as a single window to enable the bank to better deliver on its mandate by providing critical services to support and promote African trade and the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement.

The ATG was launched by Afreximbank intra-African trade bank initiative executive VP Kanayo Awani on the sidelines of the thirtieth Afreximbank Annual Meetings – being held in Accra, Ghana, this week – in the presence of Bank of Ghana governor Dr Ernest Addison and AfCFTA directorate of trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights and digital trade Emily Mburu-Ndoria, who represented AfCFTA secretary general Wamkele Keabetswe Mene.

The gateway digital ecosystem comprises MANSA, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the TRADAR Club, the Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX) and ATG Connect.

Addressing guests at the launch, Awani said Afreximbank’s digital evolution was part of its deliberate strategic response to address Africa’s key challenges. This strategic response is to accelerate the pace of development and foster economic prosperity for Africans using and applying digital technologies and business models.

“Each one of our digital interventions is designed to address clearly identified challenges and barriers for those seeking to engage in African trade and investment. I am pleased that each intervention has been successfully transformed from concept to reality and commend the hard work of our colleagues and partners in achieving these milestones,” she stated.

“To consolidate results, maximise net effects, achieve greater efficiencies, drive higher synergistic value, quicken regional integration, extend and create new access markets and accelerate the digital economy in Africa, the bank is introducing the customer-centric ATG,” she added.

She described the ATG as the gateway into a definitive digital ecosystem made for Africa’s trade. The ATG is supported by Afreximbank and the AfCFTA in collaboration with their partners to meet the needs of businesses, governments and stakeholders by enabling trade, commerce and investment.

With the ATG, customers could complete all their transactions within one window, explained Awani.

MANSA – Africa’s due diligence platform – provides a single source of primary data required for the conduct of customer due diligence on African entities, financial institutions, corporates and small, medium-sized and microenterprises. It also provides complementary collection of information on investment in Africa, country profiles and traded products and services of African countries.

PAPSS was established to enable efficient payment for intra-African trade in national currencies, promoting intra-African trade, minimising risk and contributing to financial integration across Africa.

In July 2019, the African Union Heads of State adopted PAPSS as the payment and settlement system to support the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement. PAPSS currently operates out of Cairo, Egypt.

TRADAR Club is member-driven network aimed at empowering international businesses and executives to transform trade and investment in Africa through many different functions.

This includes providing trusted trade intelligence and advisory services through innovative digital tools and networking opportunities. This helps members to discover new markets; grow their business; save time; access dedicated expert support; post and respond to new business opportunities; network; and meet business and trading partners.

Membership of the TRADAR Club is open to global industry leaders, African and foreign businesses, intergovernmental organisations, policymakers and others committed to unlocking growth and development in Africa.

ATEX is a business-to-business and business-to-government e-commerce platform launched at the fifty-fourth Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Dakar in May last year.

The platform was launched to help small, medium-sized and large African businesses to tap into new markets on the continent and to facilitate the optimisation of their supply chains. It enables procurement in bulk for basic commodities to ensure access to suppliers in a transparent manner.

ATG Connect serves to connect business service providers across Africa. It provides freight and logistics connectivity solutions, which allow for frictionless connecting and matching of freight or logistics requests with freight and logistics providers listed on the platform.

Customers can receive quotes for the pickup and delivery of goods to and from any location in Africa at a competitive price.

The launch ceremony included presentations on the services available under the various digital platforms, and a panel discussion by the heads of the platforms, during which they discussed the services they offered in support of trade across Africa and the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement.