Through the analysis of the export readiness of 83 businesses in Cameroon, their time in business, their sector of activity, and their product certifications, the findings reveals that two-thirds of them are in agro-processing, and 48% do not have certifications for their products.
😮 The corresponding publication highlights the challenges faced by businesses seeking to fully benefit from the AfCFTA, such as: 🚚✈️🚢
- 🚚✈️🚢- High cost of transportation by road, air, and maritime
- 🕵️♂️- Complex export procedures and limited knowledge of export requirements
- 📄- High rate of tariffs currently applicable on intra-ECCAS trade
- 💸 – Limited trade support infrastructure, such as cold storage facilities
- ❄️🏭 – Lack of access to finance to increase productive capacity for large-scale demands
- 💰📈 – High cost of product compliance with standards
- 🏷️💵 – Lack of Finance
- 💸 – Complex border procedures
- 🛂👮 – Lack of market knowledge of products
- 👩🌾 – Low production capacity
- 📉🏭 – Lack of knowledge of distribution channels
🗺️🚛 These challenges hinder the potential of businesses to access the 1.3 billion consumer market under the AfCFTA. The publication emphasizes the importance of policy reforms in export procedures, business registration, SME support, and other related areas to boost the capacity of businesses to prepare for this market. Additionally, the development of Special Economic Zones has proven to be successful in boosting domestic production for export, and should be prioritized within the AfCFTA national strategy. 👏 The publication concludes that lessons learned from the initiative will be important to facilitate trade under the full AfCFTA.
The corresponding publication can reviewed in the following document:
