Standard Bank has released its fourth edition of the Africa Trade Barometer. The Barometer now ranks Tanzania as the fourth highest-ranking African nation in terms of overall attractiveness for trade in Africa, from eighth place in the previous year.
This follows South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique, which are ranked 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The barometer serves as an information tool for businesses trading across the continent to get a sense of the operating environment in each of the countries.
The barometer tracks 10 African countries: South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Angola.
One of the most critical tools for cross-border activity is relevant market intelligence about the markets businesses are venturing into and this Barometer looks to give detail about each country’s operating environment.
Relative to last year’s barometer, some countries’ trade attractiveness has increased while others lost some ground.
Group Head of Trade at Standard Bank Philip Myburgh says, “One of the countries we did see a change on, to the negative unfortunately, was Ghana, it went from a ranking of 3 to 7 and a lot of that was driven by some of the economic challenges that Ghana has experienced, high inflation rates, high interest rates, they’ve had significant debt challenges to deal with and that’s extended to other things like access to us dollar liquidity. I mean in the barometer SMEs are telling us that one of their biggest challenges in terms of government support in Ghana has been a lack of access to the US dollar, so they were unable to pay for imports which really stagnates the economy.”
Mozambique has increased in the rankings on the back of an improved policy environment.
“On the positive side, very encouraging to see the likes of Mozambique improving its ranking, also through really good policy measures being put in place, good economic stability and particularly focused on localization and supporting SMEs in their economy and that’s starting to come through the barometer quite strongly,” Myburgh adds.
Tanzania has made substantial strides, moving four places to rank at number 4 this year after reaping the benefits of serious investment in infrastructure.
The need to address broader infrastructural issues remains a hot topic for businesses canvassed for the barometer.
Myburgh elaborates, “The likes of Tanzania have increased their road network by a third in the last three years, which is great to see. You’re seeing a lot of railway projects happening, rail is a critical component of taking some of that volume off the road and then I think, most importantly, the respondents to the barometer are telling us that power remains the most critical element of infrastructure that’s currently hampering trade. It’s both rated as poor as well as a significant obstacle to trade. A lot of that is driven by our experiences in South Africa — it’s well documented, but also less documented are the challenges that our friends in Nigeria have experienced — they’re only meeting 25% of their energy demand currently in Nigeria, which is obviously having a significant impact there.”
Other issues that trading businesses raised as key issues included the need for countries to improve the efficiency of their customs processes, which can cause significant delays in business transactions.
Standard Bank notes that small businesses indicated they had increased their cross-border trade activity within the continent, with an appetite to do even more. If sustained, this would augur well for the vision of the African Continental Free Trade Area to grow.
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Publish date : 2024-10-17 18:18:23
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