AFRICA AS A DESIRABLE TRADING PARTNER
Africa has a colorful, though stormy and violent history, going back thousands of years. Its rugged beauty, natural resources, even its strong people have been desired by the inhabitants of other continents. They have often resorted to brute force, using their military might to get what they wanted – products like coffee and cocoa, workers who they shipped to their own country as slaves to work their own plantations, minerals like gold, diamonds, copper, iron ore, platinum and others, that they mined on the continent and shipped them to their own shores to refine and use to make themselves rich.
Despite these power incursions by foreign nations, Africa has survived. All nations in Africa are now independent, and running their own affairs by sovereign governments. It acknowledges that many times their emergence has not been pretty, and it is learning that universal laws of fairness apply to everyone, no matter their heritage. It is acknowledged that respectful co-operation is the key to survival in our populous, complex world. Despite its many struggles, Africa has not lost its love for its brother and sister, and the spirt of ubuntu (compassion and humanity) is as strong as ever. It is in this spirit that Africa is ready to become an active participant in its own development, ready and able to collaborate with anyone who wants to.
So why would Africa be a desirable trading partner?
• We have people who are as educated as anyone else in the world
• We have associations that bring the necessary knowledge and expertise together
• We have the patience and commitment to see projects through to conclusion
• We care for our fellow human being
• We can work with anyone in the world whether you are from European, American, Indian or Chinese origin
• Africa is a huge market for a variety of products
• Africa is resilient and knows how to survive massive challenges like droughts, intense heat, floods, health threats like HIV Aids, malaria and others.
Trade Africa admits, with sadness and disappointment the many instances of misappropriation of public funds by corrupt practices perpetrated by unscrupulous politicians and others. To prevent any such actions affecting international trade collaborations, Trade Africa will put in place transparent, robust financial control measures that will keep all stakeholders informed of progress. All projects will be executed according to strict management procedures following mutually agreed budgets and timelines.
To clarify the nature of business Africa is looking for, Hon Nwabueze Buchi George, the president of Globe Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that Africa is interested in Trade, not Aid.
PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION PROJECTS
Africa will happily engage in international trade projects on the basis of the following principles:
1. The prime purpose is the development of its people. Non-negotiable in any project is the training of the local people who are involved in executing the project. The training should not only involve the transfer of technical skills and knowledge, but also include managerial and administrative exposure with the intention that within a reasonable time span, the local people will be in the position to fully run the developed facility.
2. Projects utilizing agricultural or mineral resources, should include the establishment of processing capabilities that result in value-added products for which there is a ready market both locally, elsewhere in Africa, as well as the rest of the world. The acquisition of marketing expertise by local people should be part of the collaboration objectives.
3. The trade facilitating entity (Globe Chamber of Commerce and Industry) would like to keep abreast of progress on the different bilateral collaboration projects so that the information on these deals can be used in the continued quest to promote trade in Africa.
4. All collaborative development projects that come into existence will be committed to serving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and ensure that care for the environment which we all share as human beings will be respected. In other words, all projects will be executed in an environmentally responsible fashion. This refers to use of energy, as well as generation of waste products. Africa is part of the global community, and as such is committed to taking care of our shared world.
WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL TRADE FORUM?
An international trade forum is a strategic, planned event with the sole purpose of promoting the creation of international development projects that are subject to the principles described above.
BENEFITS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE FORUMS
International trade can have many benefits for participating countries. These include:
• Development of human capital
• Development of new markets for products in a wide range of fields (e.g. medical, educational, food, technology, art, IT, etc)
• Creation of work opportunities
• Development of natural resources
• Exchange of techniques, methodologies
• Sociological collaboration
• Creation of solutions to global threats like climate change, diseases, poverty
LESSONS FROM COVID-19
The unusual situations brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic taught everyone some useful lessons, which could be a beneficial guide for future international co-operation.
As a result of COVD-19 we learnt to:
• Share information which helped people to protect themselves and others from being infected by the deadly virus
• Adjust our lifestyle so as to accept much reduced travel practices
• Use digital media to our advantage to carry on doing business when we were confined to our homes
• Work together to overcome a global threat about which limited information existed
• Be creative regarding on how to generate new business opportunities when our accustomed forms of interaction were non-existent
• Be more vigilant regarding unscrupulous opportunists who exploited emergency situations to make outrageous profits, at the expense of the public.
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE FORUMS
• Active bilateral engagement on equal terms before, during and after the forum
• Commitment to serving the needs and interests of all stakeholders
• Transparent, disciplined execution of projects within agreed budgets, timelines and resources
• Mutual respect
• A rejection of any practice designed to benefit specific individuals or groups, who may be connected to the project or not.
• Effective marketing
• Predetermined reporting mechanisms keeping all stakeholders well informed throughout the execution of projects
• Well-functioning control procedures that prevent domination and ensure efficient use of resources and achievement of objectives.
• A valid assessment mechanism which records the number and scope of trade deals signed, and keeps in touch with the progress of such deals, to be used for future marketing information.
ESSENTIAL PARTICIPANTS
Any international collaboration project requires the participation of all of following participants:
• Appropriate government agencies. These projects, of necessity, are executed within bilateral government policies, regulations and objectives, and invariably involve government investment in some form or another
• Trade agencies that have the expertise, knowledge base and mechanisms to bring interested participants together
• Trading partners that have the capacity and will to engage in projects which may carry a significant amount of risk.
AIMS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE FORUMS
• The chief aim of International trade forums is to facilitate the conclusion of bilateral trade deals
• Publicising collaboration opportunities
• Stimulating bilateral trade activity
• Promoting goodwill and beneficial co-operation
CHALLENGES IN STAGING PRODUCTIVE TRADE FORUMS
The following challenges are part of the process:
• Reaching potential trade practitioners with factual information regarding opportunities for bilateral trade
• Setting up communication channels whereby connection between possible partners can be established
• Facilitating the flow of information between potential trade partners so that when they meet at the event most of their questions are already answered, and they are ready to commit to signing agreements that kickstart collaborative projects
• Organising all the travel and accommodation requirements, including necessary visas for all participants so that there are no delays or travel hiccups
• Setting up a programme that is interesting and informative, yet allows sufficient time for adequate discussion and negotiation culminating in executable projects
• Deciding on the number of participants to the trade forum
• Setting up realistic cost structures that will fairly remunerate people who organise the forum and provide value for money for the participants
• Managing payments and ensuring that all service providers are remunerated fairly and timeously
• Ensuring all needs (health, dietary, physical comfort, safety) of all participants are met during the event
It is clear that the organization of such a trade forum can only be done by a competent and experienced project team.
COMPETENCIES REQUIRED FROM THE ORGANIZING TEAM
The competencies necessary are:
• Marketing expertise to publicise the aims and opportunities of trade forums to appropriate target participants
• Administrative capability keeping track of all necessary information regarding participants’ contact details, areas of interest, potential collaborators, travel and accommodation requirements, air and hotel bookings, passport and visa requirements, dietary requirements and special needs
• Financial planning experience, drawing up budgets
• Accounting expertise, keeping track of income and payments
• Legal expertise to assist in drawing up effective collaboration contracts
• Making the necessary logistics arrangements involving transport of delegates to and from airports to hotels, meeting venues and site visits
• Communication specialist to write press releases, news articles and documents of interest to government institutions, trade groupings and international audiences
• Project management which co-ordinates all activities
• Knowledgeable and courteous tour event guides familiar with local customs and forms of transport at the location where the trade forum takes place.
The incumbents of the different tasks will be drawn from partners of the African trade association. Remuneration of the organizers of a trade forum for the above inputs are to be commensurate with the professional competence and time commitments required. Strict financial control must be exercised at every stage of the project execution. Stakeholders must be kept informed of disbursements and progress on a regular basis. A detailed database with backup of all necessary information must be available at any time during the project life cycle, but be kept after the event for analysis of certain shortcomings and implementation of improvement measures for future events.
The project team involved in staging the event must be efficient, have the capacity to handle extraordinary workloads at certain times, keep track of all necessary details, and be fully conversant with international travel requirements (e.g. visa regulations). The project team engagement typically is over a limited period of 3-4 months from beginning of publicising the particular forum to the actual event. However, it is desirable that the team composition does not change from event to event, because the accumulated expertise acquired during the organization of one trade forum can beneficially applied to other similar events involving other international participants.
MANAGING THE ACTUAL EVENT
A bilateral trade forum is typically conducted over a short period of 3-5 days. During these days there must be enough time for potential trade partners to discuss potential problems associated with collaborative trade, and become convinced that these problems can be overcome, resulting in signed agreements on how the execution of the collaborative trade projects will become a reality.
A great deal of work needs to be done with meticulous attention to detail leading up to actual Forum, so that prospective trading partners are ready to conclude agreements at the Forum, which serves as the deal clinching celebration. The success of the event is not measured by the actual number and value of signed deals, but, more importantly, by relationships formed which will be the basis of collaboration stretching well into the future.
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