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As the chairman of Africa Trade, my objective is to facilitate trade and investment opportunities for small businesses across the African continent. - Mxolisi Mkhonto, chairman of Africa Trade Unit.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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As newly-appointed Africa Trade Unit chairman, Mxolisi Mkhonto, take the reins of the organisation we can expect an aggressive push for intra-African trade.

Africa Trade Unit is a body that aims to give a platform to African businesses – small or big – and enable them to grow wings to trade at the African and global scale.

Mkhonto is a Mpumalanga-born businessman with diverse interests in mining and property. He is therefore considered the right man to broker deals, negotiate trade agreements and partnerships and identify and pursue trade opportunities.

He was appointed into the position last week.

"As the chairman of Africa Trade, my objective is to facilitate trade and investment opportunities for small businesses across the African continent. We have seen a number of small businesses being unable to enter the big markets globally and that gap needs to be bridged to make it easier for small businesses to export their products and services,” Mkhonto said.

Mkhonto  said that economic growth and development of African small businesses could be realised only when gaps and red tape were bridged and a conducive environment was created to enable entrepreneurs to invest easily in countries within the continent.

“Not only are we going to focus on small businesses but streamlining trade processes and reducing red tape, providing access to financing and capacity-building programmess and promoting African products and services globally through fostering partnerships between African businesses and international investors will be part of the game," he said. 

There are, however, challenges Africa Trade Unit will have to deal with as far as different countries with different laws are concerned. A country such as Zimbabwe ensures through the indigenisation law that the majority shareholding of foreign companies investing in the country should remain in the hands of the locals.  

“We want to minimise the shares that countries are taking. They must be below 30%. For example, Zimbabwe is taking too much,” Mkhonto said.

He added that Africa Trade was in talks with partners in Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia, Lesotho and Sierra Leone.

“The plan of the organisation is to drive a programme to encourage business people to look for opportunities outside their countries. We do not have enough South Africans trading outside. Africa Trade will be teaching people how to do,” Mkhonto said.

“We want to educate businesspeople from every country how to trade in foreign countries.”

Africa Trade Unit’s mission goes in hand with African Union’s vision of fast tracking intra-African trade, which is lagging behind other continents in the rest of the world.

In March 2018, African countries signed a landmark trade agreement, the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).

AfCTA committed countries to remove bottlenecks that affected trading among the continent’s countries such as tariffs and free movement of people.

This agreement created a single African market of over a billion consumers with a total GDP of over US$3 trillion, and the largest free trade area in the world.

Intra Africa trade stands low at just 14.4% of total African exports, while other continents do better. Among Europe countries, trading is 69 percent, Asia (59 percent), and North America (31 percent).

The UN Trade and Development forecasts show the AfCFTA could boost intra Africa trade by about 33% and cut the continent’s trade deficit by 51%.

Mkhonto brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his new role as his background includes knowledge of international trade and commerce. 

"I am honoured to lead Africa Trade and I am committed to ensuring that our continent's businesses thrive in the global market. My team and I will work tirelessly to create an enabling environment for trade and investment, fostering sustainable economic growth and job creation,” Mkhonto said.

“We will prioritise sustainability in all our initiatives, ensuring that our efforts benefit not only businesses but also communities and the environment. Together, we can unlock Africa's vast potential and create a brighter future for all," he added.