Providing African Solution Through Limitless Trade

Africa is a great continent with huge trade potential. Africa is one of the continents where every natural resource is found and yet, it is among the poorest. The continent is rich, yet poor. For years, as Africans, we have failed to harness our home-grown full potential to offer real solutions.

Entrepreneurship is increasingly seen as a key to growth in Africa and trade is the only way that can open up the continent to harnessing its full potential. This is one of the generators of employment opportunities in the continent, employing about 86 percent and contributing about 45 percent to GDP in most countries across Africa.

According to Ancestral House Eastern Africa, global e-commerce platforms with vast networks and aggregated distributors have significantly lowered the cost of buying goods across markets, with delivery times of between two (2) – fourteen (14) days at the click of a button.

Such platforms have empowered customers of the FMCG market and increased the pocket share of the FMCG global players but have increasingly left out African producers and manufacturers.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, SMEs are one of the biggest formal employers. According to the African Development Bank, 22 percent of Africa’s working population are starting businesses. In as much as this potential is promising, entrepreneurs in Africa continue to face immense challenges.

Some of the challenges facing the SME sector in Africa include lack of capital, market access, skills training, as well as administrative barriers. The key to African economic power is in the hands of the private sector and needs to be tapped as soon as possible.

At the same time, in the Sub-Saharan region, about 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15 years. This makes Africa the “youngest” continent in the world. With a youthful and energetic population, Africa’s potential is unmatched.

Ancestral House Eastern Africa was launched to help address the issue of access to African markets beyond domicile countries. It seems to be simpler to export goods out of Africa than within when the trade potential is US$ 1 billion.

Ancestral endeavors to mitigate market dislocations include:

1. Lack of market information.

2. Inexperienced exporters/importers.

3. Poor logistics infrastructure (Human/Govt problems).

4. Inefficient cross-border payment systems/infrastructure.

5. Cultural differences, gaps, trust deficit.

6. Varied Competitive landscape (mindset, self over collective, gap occupied and guarded jealously by Asians/Middle-Easterns).

“The promise of Africa has through our history hovered above us almost like an ideal, something wished for but unattainable, whereas the African land space is variously blessed in resources and abundant talent to fulfill this promise.

Over time, multidimensional dislocations have stymied the emergence of an integral and prosperous African collective,” said OSE IMOUKHUEDE, the Chairman of Ancestral.

Ancestral said in a statement; “We are the preferred channel for the exchange of premium goods and services in Africa. We are connecting producers and consumers of goods and services across Africa through technology-driven go-to-market information and expertise.”

Read More About Ancestral Here.