The report of “Business Webinar on African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)”

Day：2025.10.14

event ｜

Overview

The title of event: Hands-On Business Experiences and Market Opportunities in Africa for Japanese Businesses
Co-organizer: JICA, JETRO, and UNDP
Seminar Style: Online

The Key speakers

1 . Opening Remarks：Nobuharu Imanishi, Deputy Director-General / Deputy Assistant Minister (Ambassador) African Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ms. Mari Fujii, Director-General, Research & Analysis Department, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)
2 . Overview and Progress of AfCFTA: Komi Tsuwou, Trade/ AfCFTA advisor　(UNDP Regional Office)
3 . Market and Investment Environment under AfCFTA: Edem Numadzi, Ghana National AfCFTA Coordination Office
4 . Experience Sharing on AfCFTA Utilization:
- Victor Golub, Viva (Ghana)
- Chinwe Ezenwa, ReLook (Nigeria)
5 . Experience from IATF Participants:
- Prosper Attito, DOYA (Japan & Ghana)
- Samb Souleymane, Tokyo Plant (Japan & Senegal)
6 . Closing Remarks: Mr. Hajime Iwama, Director General, Africa Department, JICA)

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a significant initiative aimed at creating a single market of over 1.4 billion people. By promoting intra-African trade, it is expected to drive inclusive economic growth, job creation, and accelerated industrial development.

AfCFTA has the potential to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by over 111%, raise income by 9%, and lift 50 million people out of poverty by 2035. Meanwhile, Japanese companies are showing growing interest in Africa’s economic potential. According to JETRO’s 2024 survey, 46.7% of companies expressed their intention to leverage AfCFTA to expand their business. However, they face numerous challenges, including complex regulations, lack of information on trade rules, underdeveloped local networks, and difficulty identifying reliable business partners.

To address these challenges, the webinar invited AfCFTA implementing agencies, local African companies utilizing the AfCFTA framework, and Japanese companies that participated in the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) to share the current status, national initiatives, and future outlook of AfCFTA.

During the webinar, a presentation was delivered by Mr. Komi Tsuwou from the UNDP Regional Office, and the Ghana AfCFTA Coordination Office introduced initiatives to promote trade and investment under AfCFTA. In the experience-sharing session, companies from Ghana and Nigeria shared their practical experiences and challenges in utilizing AfCFTA. Additionally, Japanese companies that participated in the IATF presented the outcomes and opportunities gained from the fair.

In the closing remarks, Mr. Iwama, JICA's Director General of Africa Department, mentioned about expectations for the AfCFTA and JICA’s efforts around the AfCFTA.

The seminar was attended by approximately 120 participants, and it successfully provided a platform to share the potential and practical applications of this new framework.