African SMEs face challenges despite trade facilitation measures

Small and medium-scale enterprises in Africa continue to face trade facilitation challenges despite improvements achieved on the continent as data for 34 countries in a recent United Nations (UN) survey show.

According to a survey released last week by the UN regional commissions, and reproduced by modernghana.com, countries across the globe are moving towards a seamless and efficient trading environment within and beyond national borders by simplifying and digitalizing formalities in international trading. “This is helping to sustain international trade despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the survey revealed. 

The 34 countries from Africa where data was obtained in the 2021 survey achieved an average implementation rate of 50 percent across all core trade facilitation measures.

The countries with the highest average score are Mauritius with 88% and Morocco with 83%. 

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