Boosting small businesses led by youth in East Africa

The East African Business Council (EABC), in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC) trained young entrepreneurs how to benefit from export opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The three-day training, titled “Export Readiness for Youth-Led SMEs under the AfCFTA,” convened trainers from East African business support organizations who also own a business as they learned how to support young entrepreneurs in trading across borders under the AfCFTA. The training covered various topics, including navigating the AfCFTA protocols, understanding export procedures, leveraging digital platforms for exports, and using trade information resources.

Funded by the European Union, the bootcamp was organized as part of the EU-East African Community Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP) II implemented by ITC.

The African Continental Free Trade Area: untapped potential

ITC estimates that if all African countries fully liberalized tariffs, untapped intra-African export potential would amount to $22 billion.  However, many African businesses remain unaware of the AfCFTA’s opportunities. An ITC survey showed that over 50% of small businesses are unaware of the Free Trade Area, let alone empowered to benefit from it.

In partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat, ITC launched the "One Trade Africa Initiative" to empower African small businesses, women and youth entrepreneurs to fully capitalize on the agreement.

Impact on youth-led businesses

The training exposed young business leaders to:

• AfCFTA and its various Protocols, especially on women and youth in trade.
• Export readiness, identifying target markets and customers. Enterprises will be able to assess their capacity to comply with requirements across countries and with international standards.
• Market access tools, navigating AfCFTA trade portals and leveraging digital tools for exporting.
• Practical exercises and live demonstrations, giving participants hands-on experience in using the African Trade Observatory and other digital ITC platforms, to access market information and navigate export documentation and compliance procedures.

During the training, Happiness Nyiti from AJA Ltd in the United Republic of Tanzania shared her success story of exporting more than 20 tonnes of sisal fibres to Ghana under the AfCFTA. Kenya, Rwanda, and the United Republic of Tanzania have started trading under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative.

The training will continue to be rolled out across the East African Community, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, reaching and empowering more young entrepreneurs to succeed in export markets.