By Merit Ibe
The Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC) is set to survey the impact of external shocks on Africa’s private sector.
The 2023 edition of the PAFTRAC CEO Trade Survey aims to capture the views of CEOs and senior executives from across the continent, providing valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing African businesses.
PAFTRAC unites African leaders from the private sector and provides a unique advocacy platform bringing together the African private sector and African policymakers to support extra and intra-African trade, investment and pan-African enterprise.
With the theme “Realising the AfCFTA in an era of disruption,” the platform drives pan-African results by providing a framework for private sector engagement in trade and investment issues in Africa, including policy formulation and trade negotiations to support African economies in line with the ambitions of Agenda 2063: “The Africa We Want”.
Chairperson of PAFTRAC, Professor Patrick Utomi, encouraged all CEOs and senior executives in Africa to take part in this survey and share their insights and experiences.
“This is a unique opportunity to contribute to a valuable body of research that will help to shape policy and the future of trade in Africa.”
This year’s theme will be “Realising the AfCFTA in an era of disruption”. The implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), has been disrupted by various challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and other external shocks.
These challenges have highlighted the need for African countries to adapt to the changing global environment and seize the opportunities presented by the AfCFTA to transform their economies and societies. The Africa CEO Trade Survey will look to capture the sentiment of Africa’s private sector to inform policy-makers in the implementation of trade policies to fulfil the potential of the AfCFTA.
According to PAFTRAC, last year, over 800 executives active in the continent, from 46 countries in Africa, responded to the Africa CEO Trade Survey.
The survey provided a unique insight into the challenges and opportunities that exist in trading in Africa and served as an excellent barometer of private sector sentiment on African trade and the AfCFTA.