(Ecofin Agency) - The e-TradeHubs portal, which will be a one-stop-shop for trade tools and information in Africa, has been launched by the International Chamber of Commerce, Trade Law Centre (TRALAC), UPS International Public Affairs & Sustainability, and West Blue Consulting.

This is in line with Women Traders in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) “Women Traders in the AfCFTA”- an initiative to enable public policy, and create electronic guidelines to assist women entrepreneurs scale-up and digitize their businesses.

“The AfCFTA holds unprecedented opportunities for women-led businesses to trade, invest and participate in cross-border value chains. The eTradeHub is a one-stop portal with all the information required to ensure trade regulatory compliance. Tralac is proud to partner with ICC, UPS and West Blue Consulting to launch the eTradeHub, contributing to trade facilitation and so boosting intra-African trade,” ccommented Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive Director, Tralac.

It should be noted that despite establishing the e-TradeHub portal to unlock trading opportunities, electronic trading in Africa is characterized by challenges such as low internet penetration rate and high cost associated with using the internet, according to a study by Researchgate.

As indicated by Internet World Stats’ recent publication of March 2021, Africa has 590 million internet users. This is less than half of its estimated population of about 1.3 billion, based on data from United Nations Population Division.

According to The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, intra-African trade is estimated to increase from 15% up to 33% by 2040. This growth would be possible with AfCFTA transforming Africa’s economic landscape and creating productive opportunities, typically through its Women Traders in the AfCFTA initiative.

Solange Che