Head, of Admin for Anglophone West African Region, AFREXIMBANK, Engr. Oluwaseun Alabi at the presentation of International Standardization Certification (ISO) 4010 to Total Facility Management Limited (TFML), revealed that Inter-state trading among African countries has remained a focal point for the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) with a mandate to drive intra-African trade across the continent.
He claims that the Bank has taken note of the poor statistical representation of trade inside Africa, which is far less than trade between African nations and those in Europe and other continents.
He pointed out that this was detrimental to the empowerment of the continent’s own people and charged women with bridging the gap through a variety of entrepreneurial ventures that the bank would assist.
Alabi said “Statistics have shown that trade between African countries is less than 20% compared to the likes of trade with Europe, Asia and America and others. You have 60 per cent and some of them are well above 50 per cent.”
According to him, the TFML entered the global market through the ISO’s certification of competence and honesty, and as with any company run by a woman, should take advantage of the bank’s admirable attempt to research the African market.
He argued that it was past time for Nigerian women to learn more about the numerous bank initiatives that could help small and medium-sized businesses become internationally recognized, particularly in light of the opportunities the African Continental Free Trade Association (AfCTFA) has created and the bank’s seamless organizational profile and payment platform system.
Despite the bank’s readiness to assist them, Alabi claimed that women had not participated as effectively as they could in continental trade and urged them to take advantage of the region’s low level of trade.
“Our mandate is to ensure that African countries can trade conveniently, for example, I can seat in Nigeria and know what is available in Ghana and can trade between Nigeria and Ghana and we can seamlessly facilitate that transaction.
“The Bank has some of the initiatives that are set up to ensure this happens. One of such initiative is what we call the MANSA platform where investors and companies put in their profiles, and somebody in Cote d’Ivoire can go to that platform and search out who is in Nigeria that can offer that service.
“We also have the Pan African payments system (PAPS) to be able to pay in Naira and your partner or vendor in Ghana get the fund in cedis, you do not have to be looking for a dollar about.
“Afrexim Bank is in support of the African Continental Free Trade Association (AfCFTA).”
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Total Facility Management, Nwandu Chukwura, said the business would check out all opportunities to advance her role in her services and emphasized that Nigerian businesses panning towards the global market must know that “you cannot play in the international front, if you do not have what it takes to play globally because competence, in service delivery, is what people and organization crave at the global scene.”
