Africa ought to wake up to the potential of intra-Africa trade and correct its trade imbalance with its neighbours and import-export partners from other countries, Bureau Veritas (BV) executive Bertrand Martin has told a gathering in Sandton, South Africa.
Martin, who earlier this year stepped into the role of vice president ofthe verification company's representation on the continent, illustrated his point with some startling figures.
Compared to export trade worth $557 billion, Africa imported $609bn, he said.
More alarming though is the continent’s intra-trade figure – a paltry $86bn in comparison.
Martin, who was speaking at a function to address Africa’s future, especially seen against the backdrop of the continent’s much-vaunted free-trade area and its GDP projection of $3.4 trillion, said “BV sees enormous potential for growth in Africa”.
But it will have to be done in the spirit of “accelerating conformity and compliance standards in intra-African trading countries and beyond”.
With its 200-year history in the verification space, and its presence in 140 countries, Martin believes BV has the technical know-how to keep trade not only on track, but on the straight and narrow.
“Our technical expertise can make a significant contribution to improving intra-African trade and the economic development of our continent.”
He added that BV was “determined to continue our commitment to developing Africa and to work closely with our partners to achieve this goal".
One of these partners is the African Export-Import Bank, Afrexim.
“As the African Continental Free Trade Area becomes a reality, governments and businesses need to be aware of product standards and regulations to protect traders and society,” he said.
In BV’s commitment to a safe environment for the export of goods within countries in Africa, they have collaborated with Afreximbank to develop the African Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC) in Nigeria to ensure compliance with standards for made-in-Africa products.
In addition, and still in Nigeria, the Pre-Export Verification of Conformity programmes such as SONCAP, help to protect the West African nation against the importation of sub-standard products.
Thanks to SONCAP’s equivalent in Zimbabwe, Consignment-Based Conformity Assessment, about 500 million sub-standard or illegal imports, measured in units, have been prevented from entering the country.
“Our role as an expert, independent third-party company is crucial to create the conditions for trust,” Martin said.
He also mentioned that BV would like to see a single-window system for the continent that would speed up intra-African trade.
