The Arab Africa Trade Bridges Program, a multi-donor, inter-regional program, has signed two agreements aimed at fostering sustainable growth and development on the sidelines of the Intra Africa Trade Fair 2023 in Cairo, Egypt.

Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, the CEO of ITFC, Acting CEO of ICD, and Secretary General of the AATB Program, along with Dr. Hermogene Nsengimana, the General Secretary of ARSO, signed a Grant Agreement within the framework of the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program. This pivotal agreement aimed at harmonizing African standards for textiles and leather products, ensuring a transformative change in the African Fashion Industry. It further reinforces AATB’s commitment to fostering trade development and quality enhancement in Africa, building on the success of the recent harmonization of pharmaceutical and medical device standards initiative.  Both harmonization initiatives are aligned with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

Also, a Partnership Agreement was signed between ITFC and the International Trade Centre (ITC), under the umbrella of the AATB program to mark the initiation of Phase Two for the transformative "How to Export with the AfCFTA” Program, developed collaboratively with Afreximbank. The training program, which is set to directly benefit several African countries, namely Benin, Cameroon, Senegal, and Togo, will share the fundamentals of exporting within the framework of intra-African trade.   

The program’s primary objective is to raise awareness regarding the technical aspects and potential opportunities arising from the AfCFTA agreement. By participating in this training, enterprises will learn to evaluate their standing concerning new trading opportunities. Moreover, they will be equipped to strategize and make informed decisions on how best to leverage the benefits presented by the AfCFTA agreement. This partnership agreement was signed by Hani Salem Sonbol, the CEO of ITFC, Acting CEO of ICD, and Secretary General of the AATB Program, and Ms. Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of ITC.

As large and small businesses are pivotal to Africa’s economic growth structural transformation, these agreements play a strategic role in bolstering the AATB program’s influence in promoting trade and investment development to drive positive economic impact across the continent.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

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About the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program: 
The AATB Program is a multi-donor, multi-country, and multi-organizations program supported by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), Islamic Development Bank, The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), The Islamic Corporation for The Development of The Private Sector (ICD), and The OPEC Fund for International Development.  The Program aims to promote and increase trade and investment flows between African and Arab OIC Member Countries; provide and support trade finance and export credit insurance; and enhance existing capacity-building tools relating to trade. The Program specifically focuses on supporting the key sectors of agriculture and related industries, including textiles; the health industry, including pharmaceuticals; infrastructure and transport; and petrochemicals, construction material, and technology.