Monday, December 9African Digital Business Magazine

Author: Pomy Ketema

16Jul By Pomy KetemaNo Comments
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Decentralised finance may be the panacea for filling Africa’s Investment Gap

by Pomy Ketema, Counsel, Baker McKenzie, New York African countries continue to face substantial financing gaps as they take on projects of all sizes in pursuit of development. To tackle the slowdown in foreign direct investment since the onset of the pandemic, some African countries are actively courting their diaspora and looking for pockets of cash-rich businesses around the continent. Each country is on its own development trajectory. However, continental and regional initiatives, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), are being harnessed as broad-based wealth-creation vehicles. The AfCFTA, which took effect on January 1, 2021, aims to create an integrated continental market by reducing trade barriers among its 54 signatory countries. The trading pact is still under ...
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16Feb By Pomy KetemaNo Comments
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AfCFTA is Now Operational: What to Expect in the First Few Months

by Pomy Ketema, Counsel, Baker McKenzie, New York The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one of the largest trading blocs in the world with the majority of African countries now operating under its preferential trade framework. Trading under AfCFTA commenced on January 1, 2021 under a liberalized trade regime that would gradually lead to an integrated continental market with tariffs phased out on 97% of tariff lines within 10 to 13 years. AfCFTA covers both goods and services, and provides a platform for individual countries or regional economic communities (RECs), as applicable, to engage in intra-African trade, through offers of tariff concessions and service commitments with reciprocal most-favored-nation treatment. There is already a degree of liberalized trade and integra...
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