Chairman and CEO of Oakwood Green Africa – Gabriel Edgal underscored Afreximbank’s Digital Platforms on Ghana’s Financial Advancement and Participation in Intra-African Trade

By Abdul Rahman Bangura-

Photo Credit: African Export- Import Bank (Afreximbank)

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS (NABN) Freetown, Sierra Leone– …at the blastoff of the Africa Trade Gateway as part of Afreximbank’s Annual Meetings 2023 (AAM2023) at the Accra International Conference Centre on June 20th, Edgal accentuated the importance of these platforms in opening Africa’s trade potential.

The CEO intensified the amenity and advantages of the MANSA platform, which fulfills as a single source of primary data for Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Know Your Customer (KYC) checks on African entities, including financial institutions, corporates, and SMEs. By expediting MANSA, companies onboard onto the platform can suitably trade with their African customers, suppliers, and partners without the desire for extra due diligence.

This streamlined process will give a substantial improvement to businesses and largely contribute to the economy by eradicating long standing tie-ups that have impeded intra-Africa trade.

“The MANSA Platform for instance will give a boost to businesses and help the economy significantly, as some bottlenecks that have bedeviled intra-Africa trade for so long will be eliminated with these platforms. We need to start asking ourselves questions as Africans such as; ‘How is it that trade with my neighbor just across the border has to be so painstakingly difficult?’… ‘Why can I not benefit from the large markets for my products that Africa provides?’… ‘Why is my focus only on international trade, imports that leave us as consuming nations instead of producing nations? It is time to think about Africa and trade among ourselves.”

On the part of PAPSS Edgal stressed the primacy of the platform, and what it will apt imply for Ghana’s development “Through initiatives like PAPSS, businesses in Ghana, for instance, can trade with their counterparts anywhere in Africa without having to convert their local
currencies to the dollar. If payments are being made in local currency, which means demand for foreign currency will reduce, and once the demand for the dollar reduces, it means exchange rates will drop and the African currencies will strengthen. It means the importation of our inputs will now be cheaper, it means imported inflation will not be possible, as the local currencies will be more resilient due to increased demand as a result of local currency trading.

Edgal, inline with other outstanding speakers, brought out the chances and help these pin lines will bring to intra-African trade. As Ghana and other African nations grasp these transformative ambitions, they are set to Afreximbank’s potential of trade within the landmass, boost financial development, and contribute to the excursion of building wealth for Africans.

For New Africa Business News (NABN) Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports,  Africa Correspondent