TradeMark East Africa (TradeMark) and AfricaNenda have signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing to collaborate towards creating digital-related solutions that will enhance financial inclusion across Eastern Africa trade environment.
Intra-African trade is expected to increase as the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area accelerates; therefore, there is a need for digital innovations that will enhance capital flows across borders to spur trade and wealth creation.
TradeMark and AfricaNenda will contribute in this regard, envisioning innovations that will contribute to inclusive, faster, safer, and greener trade and reduce the costs and time of trading across borders for big and small businesses. Specifically, the two organisations will generate ideas and design solutions and projects to increase transparency and accountability in trade transactions, reduce business transaction time and cost, and enhance collaboration and cooperation between government and private sector trade actors.
The MOU signing comes at a time when TradeMark is retrofitting its programming with a big shift towards digitalisation of trade and transport corridors, green corridors, commercialising some of its initiatives and positioning to support the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area in a wider continental context to enhance continent’s export competitiveness.
TradeMark is best known for contributing to the reduction of time and costs of trading along East Africa’s main trade and transport corridors through facilitating National Single Windows, One Stop Border Posts, modern Custom Systems (iCMS for Kenya Revenue Authority, Asycuda for Uganda and Rwanda Revenue Authorities among others), support to women cross border traders, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam port enhancements.
Speaking at the signing event, TradeMark CEO, David Beer said, “This partnership complements our work in digitising trade and transport corridors. We hope to devise solutions that will benefit SME’s in enabling them scale up their businesses for export competitiveness.”
On his part, AfricaNenda CEO Dr. Robert Ochola said, “By joining forces with TradeMark, we will offer impactful and sustainable solutions to help African businesses. We will leverage the AfCTA and EAC protocols to support the digitization of capital and related payments transfers by building payment infrastructure rails that will empower traders in the East Africa Community market.
TradeMark and AfricaNenda will capitalize on their respective competitive advantages to achieve the agenda of growing trade in Africa through more available, accessible, affordable, inclusive, and simple financial services in the region and on the African continent.
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