DRIVING AFRICA FOWARD

Since 2018, the AfroChampions team has been engaged in a major sensitization effort with African businesses of all sizes - large corporations, mid-sized companies, and SMEs - about the AfCFTA and the opportunities it presents for economic actors on the continent. In particular, this work has been conducted in close partnership with the African Union, since the signing of a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Trade and Industry Department of the African Union Commission.

In concrete terms, the exchanges took the form of meetings, either with groups of business leaders or with professional organizations and representatives of local employers. The objective is simple every time: to talk about the AfCFTA, to respond to possible concerns, to highlight future market opportunities in what will be the largest free trade area in the world. More recently, the AfroChampions Initiative has been working with representatives of African business associations active at the regional or pan-African level.

Find souvenirs of these meetings

These awareness-raising efforts were necessary because entrepreneurs do not always understand either the impacts of the AfCFTA on their activities or best ways make the most of it. Without the effective contribution of businesses, however, the AfCFTA will remain an empty shell. It is therefore necessary not only to sensitize them but also to convince them to join the large African common market.

The pan-African fashion initiative was officially launched on the sidelines of the African Union's Heads of State Summit in February 2019 at a high-level event bringing together private and public decision-makers, designers, e-commerce companies, and financing institutions. The objective is to establish a regulatory framework supporting the development of this sector which could positively impact African GDP if properly supported.

The launch event received support from many key partners - the Trade and Development Bank, the African Development Bank, Afreximbank, the Cleopoatra Group, the OCP Group, the Organisation de la Francophonie and Africa50. After that, the project continued with the implementation of a regulatory impact study under the aegis of the African Union, which officially made fashion a priority focus area. In addition, the AfroChampions Initiative entered into a partnership with the association of African textile and cotton producers, whose board now welcomes Mr. Edem Adzogenu, co-founder of AfroChampions.

Find the video of the project launch

Less than 5%: this is the African continent's share of the world fashion market - a surprisingly low percentage when one considers how dynamic and creative African designers are, in all the fields - clothing, haute couture, various accessories, cosmetics. This project should eventually allow for establishing the conditions required for the successful development of this sector - vocational training, structuring value chains, financing, trade opportunities through traditional distribution systems or -e-commerce, certification of inputs and finished products for better recognition of Made in Africa.

This is an absolutely strategic issue: we must facilitate the movement of Africans on their home continent - to accelerate trade and create job opportunities, to promote economic integration, in a nutshell to make Africa more attractive to Africans and ensure that the continent will one day have the place that it deserves in the global economy - something that cannot happen as long as Africa continues to lose its brains and as migration to other regions appears to be the only desirable option for the younger generations.

The Initiative launched a first petition on this issue in 2018 and continues to be very active on this issue, so that eventually the free movement of people will be a reality benefiting all Africans - not just diplomats or representatives of the business community.

Find here our first video on this subject

The current AfCFTA Treaty is only the first step in the establishment of a large African common market, since for now it is simply the free movement of goods and commodities that is allowed. However, free trade zones that really work in the world are those where the movement of people and capital as well as the freedom of establishment are also effective. These are the objectives to be achieved.

CARAVAN stands for: Continental Advancement & Rebirth Through Value-Chain Accelerators & Networks.

Caravan Africa will create the necessary capacity building support for micro-entrepreneurs to develop STEM-focused value chains to address challenges and opportunities in strategic industries – agro processing, textiles/fashion, technical professional services (like electrical and plumbing), cosmetics and interior decoration related manufacturing - within the respective countries. Retrouvez les détails de cette initiative sur Caravan Africa

The Caravan paradigm provides a comprehensive framework to accelerate disaggregated, grassroots-driven, industrialisation and for converting current underemployment-adaptation strategies among large numbers of young microentrepreneurs, solopreneurs and freelancers into true mass employment schemes for young people on the African continent.