Standard Chartered Bank participated as a gold sponsor at the recently concluded 2022 GTR West Africa conference which focused on ‘Pinpointing opportunities in a volatile trade environment.’
The event which was held in Lagos recently attracted over 400 delegates with participation across over 300 companies, and over 40 speakers who are subject matter experts from corporates, traders, banks, non-bank financiers, technology and fintech’s, and the public sector among others.
Discussions at the conference were centred around the African trade environment, the impact of market disruptions caused by the global pandemic, the role of government in facilitating new trade terms post pandemic, the effect of Pan-African Payment and Settlement System on the flow of trade and trade financing, foreign currency liquidity management, how to improve local currency funding and build capacity, new technologies in agribusiness and the impact on food security among others.
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IbiyemiOkuneye, head of trade and transaction banking, Nigeria & West Africa, and Kwame Asante, head, transaction banking, Ghana, both from Standard Chartered Bank, participated as speakers and chairpersons at the event. They had the opportunity of sharing insights on topical trade issues.
Ibiyemi, while speaking on tangible progress made on trade digitization globally and in West Africa said, “we have seen rapid increase in digital platforms for trade and supply chains since the global pandemic.”
“Trade digitisation is central as businesses seek to redesign supply chain operations and ecosystems to achieve visibility and build resilience. African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) provides a good platform for African countries to reassess progress made so far and deliberately shape national digital policies,” he said.
On capitalizing on West Africa’s first mover advantage, Kwame said “there is still some work to be done to significantly minimize, if not eliminate, non-tariff barriers to trade. And more public-private partnership may be needed to enhance existing and develop new infrastructure to help drive unit cost of production downwards. Hopefully, this should improve competitiveness in building enduring value chains and boost trade within the sub-region.”
