Africa Trade Gateway launched at 30th Afreximbank AGM

The African Ex­port-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Conti­nental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) have launched the Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) in Accra.

The ATG is a suite of five digital platforms that have been designed as a single window to enable the bank to better deliver on its mandate by providing critical services to support and promote African trade and the implemen­tation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Launched by Ms Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-Af­rican Trade Bank of Afreximbank, on the sidelines of the 30th Afreximbank Annual Meeting (AAM2023) in the presence of Dr Ernest Addison, Governor-Bank of Ghana and Mrs Emily Mbu­ru-Ndoria, Director-Directorate of Trade in Services, Investment, IPR and Digital Trade, AfCFTA, who represented Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, AfCFTA, the gateway digital ecosystem compris­es the MANSA (due diligence plat­form), the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the TRADAR Club, the Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX) and ATG Connect.

Ms Awani said that Afrexim­bank’s digital evolution was part of its deliberate strategic response to address Africa’s key challenges to accelerate the pace of development and foster economic prosperity for Africans using and applying digital technologies and business models.

“Each one of our digital inter­ventions is designed to address clearly identified challenges and barriers for those seeking to engage in African trade and investment. I am pleased that each intervention has been successfully transformed from concept to re­ality, and commend the hard work of our colleagues and partners in achieving these milestones.

But to consolidate results, maximise net effects, achieve greater efficiencies, drive higher synergistic values, quicken regional integration, ex­tend and create new access markets and accelerate digital economy in Africa, the bank is introducing customer-centric Africa Trade Gateway,” she said.

She described ATG as the gate­way to a definitive digital ecosystem made for Africa’s trade, supported by Afreximbank and the AfCFTA in collaboration with their partners to answer the needs of businesses, governments and stakeholders by enabling trade, commerce and investment.

“With the ATG, customers could complete all their transactions within one window,” she explained.

MANSA, Africa’s due diligence platform, provides a single source of primary data required for the conduct of customer due diligence on African entities, financial insti­tutions, corporations and SMEs.

It also provides complementary collection of information on in­vestment in Africa, country profiles and traded products/services of African countries.