Trading associates

Our initiative was dedicated to enhancing the capabilities of private businesses, trade facilitation agencies, and business support associations along the IGAD trade corridors. Our mission was clear: to drive cross-border trade, bolster SME competitiveness, and foster economic growth. Through targeted technical, institutional, and managerial capacity development programs, we elevated trade flows for both exports and imports, identifying crucial gaps to fortify trade policy-making capacities for Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and policymakers at national and local levels.

Gender equality within the private sector was vital for sustainable and inclusive growth. Our project meticulously assessed obstacles—political, legal, social, and economic—limiting private sector engagement across four RECs. We curated a robust Gender Equality Seal database encompassing comprehensive profiles, sectors, and geographic details. This database laid the foundation for a dynamic private sector network committed to advocating gender equality and women’s empowerment. By documenting best practices and navigating challenges, we paved the way for future initiatives, fostering institutional learning and creating a roadmap for sustainable progress.

Our initiative, Prosperity Africa, unlocked the potential of African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We built a knowledge-sharing platform designed to address the hurdles hindering SME growth. By identifying key challenges faced by SMEs across the continent and showcasing best practices, this platform offered actionable recommendations, eliminating bottlenecks and maximizing SME potential. With this support, SMEs thrived within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), contributing significantly to intra-African trade and driving economic prosperity continent-wide. We shaped a future of robust trade, gender equality, and SME empowerment across Africa’s trade corridors. Our collective efforts paved the path for sustainable growth and shared prosperity.

We collaborated with the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce to organize the Mayors and Private Sector Conference consecutively for two years in 2021 and 2022. This influential event aimed to foster strong business communities in cities by promoting public-private partnerships, laying the groundwork for robust economic growth and development. Through discussions on leveraging public-private cooperation, the conference aimed to create an environment conducive to economic strength and sustainability. This initiative exemplified our commitment to fostering collaborations for the betterment of local economies and business environments.