• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Future of intra-African trade to be charted at Single Window Conference in Cameroon

e-commerce

The African Alliance for e-Commerce (AAEC), a framework to promote national and regional single windows in compliance with recommendations of international institutions, is collaborating with Cameroon’s Single Window for Foreign Trade (GUCE) in organising the 7th edition of the Single Window Conference & Exhibition (SWC).

The event scheduled for September 17th to 19th at the Yaounde Conference Center, will be the first edition in Cameroon, and is to be hosted under the patronage of Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya. Under the leadership of the AAEC and the GUCE, the event, organizers say will mainly aim at tackling topics like intra-African trade initiatives and challenges, trade facilitation instruments for landlocked countries or disruptive logistics and innovative start-ups.

Representatives from more than twenty African countries are expected to participate in the conference, along with development partners and international organizations involved in trade facilitation including the World Bank, the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the World Customs Organization, UNCTAD, and ECOWAS.

According to Isidore Bayiha, AAEC president and chairman of the GUCE, “Integrating innovation into the supply chain must be a priority for us as trade leading stakeholders. We can no longer wait. Digital technologies are top priority to make Single Windows powerful tools at the service of our states, to contribute to the competitiveness of African economies and help intra-African trade take off.”

The three-day event will be marked by the participation of prestigious local & international speakers from the UN, the World Bank, the African Union Commission, ECCAS, ECOWAS, Jumia, Alibaba who will discuss the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), opportunities for single windows and e-commerce, major challenges of intra-african trade and how to boost it.

The Second day of the event will focus on trade facilitation, opportunities and challenges of single windows implementation and initiatives to enhance the supply chain, specifically for landlocked countries in CEMAC. The latest member countries’ innovations will also be reviewed, with the participation of numerous African single window CEO’s (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, & Tunisia), as well as the hinterland countries port logistics with the Autonomous Port of Douala and the Autonomous Port of Kribi.

On the third and final day of the event, there will be a glimpse into the future of logistics on the continent. During a special event, four of the “Disruptive Logistics Challenge” start-up winners will pitch their projects in front of the audience. Application to join the challenge is open until August 25th on the SWC website. A tech talk about the e-Force (the single form for foreign trade procedures) will follow up, with highlights of how Cameroon is leading the way with different stakeholders of the field like SABC, CNCC, Bollore Africa Logistics and UCAM.

 

CALEB OJEWALE