The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Business Development is stepping up efforts to prepare small businesses to compete beyond the domestic market as the country seeks to turn regional trade agreements into practical opportunities for enterprise growth and export expansion.
About 70 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are expected to participate in a three-day capacity-building workshop on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and regional trade opportunities, scheduled for September 28-30 in Maseru.
The workshop is being organised by the Government of Lesotho in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Lesotho and the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) Lesotho.
The initiative is aimed at addressing one of the key challenges facing smaller businesses: having access to markets does not necessarily mean having the capacity to sell into them.
“The workshop will bring together approximately 65-70 MSMEs to strengthen their capacity to access regional and continental markets through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), while also leveraging opportunities under the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Trade Protocol,” a statement from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and business Development said.
“Despite AfCFTA creating access to a market of over one billion consumers, many MSMEs continue to face challenges related to Rules of Origin, compliance with trade standards, and the use of digital trade tools. The workshop aims to address these barriers and support implementation of Lesotho’s National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy and Action Plan,” the Ministry added.
ECA explained that the workshop will strengthen the ability of Lesotho’s MSMEs to use AfCFTA while also taking advantage of existing preferences under the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the SADC Free Trade Area.
The programme will focus on practical areas that can determine whether a small business successfully enters a regional market, including export readiness, trade compliance, market intelligence, rules of origin and digital trade.
The first day will focus on market intelligence and export opportunities, followed by trade frameworks and compliance on the second day. The final day will feature a business-to-business seminar and market linkages involving potential buyers.
Understanding the rules governing regional trade is particularly important for local businesses. The Ministry of Trade and Industry says exporters need to understand conditions contained in trade agreements, including rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and customs procedures.
The ministry’s Department of Trade also identifies trade promotion, identifying products with export potential, product and market development and trade capacity-building among its functions.
The AfCFTA provides a potentially much larger customer base for businesses prepared to meet the requirements of continental trade. The ECA says the agreement covers all 55 African Union member states and a market of more than 1.2 billion people, with the potential to significantly increase intra-African trade as tariffs and other barriers are reduced.
The broader objective for Lesotho is moving from having trade agreements on paper to ensuring that local businesses have the knowledge, standards, networks and compliance capacity needed to actually use them.
Summary
- The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Business Development is stepping up efforts to prepare small businesses to compete beyond the domestic market as the country seeks to turn regional trade agreements into practical opportunities for enterprise growth and export expansion.
- About 70 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are expected to participate in a three-day capacity-building workshop on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and regional trade opportunities, scheduled for September 28-30 in Maseru.
- “The workshop will bring together approximately 65-70 MSMEs to strengthen their capacity to access regional and continental markets through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), while also leveraging opportunities under the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Trade Protocol,” a statement from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and business Development said.
Seabata Mahao is a general news reporter with special focus on Business and Sports. Started working at Newsday in 2021. Working in a team with a shared goal is what I enjoy most and that gives me the motivation to work under any environment leading to growth.
