Lomé, 17th September 2021: Today, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and TradeMark Africa (TMA), aimed at promoting cooperation and collaboration between the two organisations in their common goal of supporting trade in Africa.

The MoU was signed in Lomé, Togo, by His Excellency Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, and Frank Matsaert, Chief Executive Officer at TMA.

The AfCFTA and TMA are united in their shared goal of increasing prosperity in Africa through the liberalisation of trade on the continent. This MoU represents the next logical step for the two organisations as they work to increase the ease and standards of trade across Africa; support engagement with the continent’s private sector on trade and economic development issues; digitisation of key trade processes at a national level, followed by linking these at a regional level and policies to promote the use of e-commerce across the continent; and develop regional value chains and investment while developing Africa’s cross-border trade with a particular focus on women traders, youth and MSMEs.

The Agreement will also allow the two organisations to share costs and support each other in logistical challenges as they seek to implement programmes to develop trade across Africa.

His Excellency Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, said: “The MoU will further allow the AfCFTA Secretariat working with partners including TMA to facilitate State Parties to carry out the necessary reforms needed to fully implement the AfCFTA, unlocking the continent’s trade potential and increasing market integration. This will, in turn, translate into much needed jobs in the economies of the State Parties.”

Frank Matsaert, CEO of TMA, said: “We thank the AfCFTA Secretariat for the strong partnership forged today and we look forward to jointly generating impact for trade and prosperity across the Continent for millions of Africans.”