Full implementation of the recently launched African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) hinges on the private sector.
The agreement which came into force in January this year will not only transform intra-continental trade but is also set to boost industrialization..
"Private sector players have to operationalize the agreement because they are key economic operators", said Kevit Desai, the Kenya permanent secretary for EAC Affairs ministry.
He said in Nairobi on Wednesday during the launching of Mansa Digital Platform in Kenya that full participation of the private sector was key in driving the free trade agenda for Africa.
However, he implored the African countries to be serious with the pact by breaking the barriers which will inhibit successful implementation of AfCFTA.
The agreement is intended to boost trade within the continent - currently standing at only 16 percent - by removing a host of tariff barriers, especially along the borders.
Ms. Emily Waita, speaking for the East African Business Council (EABC) said the platform would be equally beneficial to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
It would enable such enterprises too find new partners to scale up their industries across the continent and support business recovery.
Ms Waita saluted five partner states of the East African Community (EAC) for ratifying the pact which she said would capitalize on the huge market of 1.2 billion consumers.
"We urge the Republic of South Sudan to also ratify the AfCFTA", she pointed out, noting that the new member of the bloc would have nothing to lose.
Ms Maureen Mba of Afreximbank, which is one of the sponsors of the facility, said the Mansa Digital Platform would also need the support of the public sector.
"Afreximbank is committed to working with the public and private sector to transform Africa’s trade and industrialization", she explained.
The platform will facilitate SMEs to get what she described as an African Entity Identifier (AEI) that supports financial transactions and also Know Your Customer service in Africa..
She stated that 70 to 80 percent of raw materials used across the globe are from Africa hence the need for more value addition to converting African resources into finished goods ready for export to the continent and beyond.
EABC executive director John Bosco Kalisa said trade information was important for business to business engagement.
"The Mansa digital platform builds confidence and trust among businesses in East Africa and Africa, " he elaborated
He said trade information,improved productive infrastructure and capacity as well as access to finance would reposition the EAC region to tap into the AfCFTA market.
Job Wanjohi, the head of policy research and advocacy at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) said AfCFTA was important in that it would facilitate movement of goods across Africa borders.
He added that women are set to benefit from the AfCFTA market and the EAC bloc should reduce the cost of doing business and enhance competitiveness.
"The EAC bloc should boost the productive capacity of exports to the continent and ride on the huge infrastructure development", he explained.
He stated AfCFTA is set to boost manufacturing output to $930billion by 2025 from $500bilion in 2015 and called for deliberate policy commitments to integrate East African SMEs in the manufacturing value chains.
The Mansa platform supplement and optimize the established frameworks on credit access and appraisal and bridge information asymmetry between banks and MSMEs.
Mansa Platform, named after the 14th century scholar in West African empire of Mali, supports banks to undertake due diligence on customers and as they spread their wings into the EAC and trhe African continent.
It is being promoted as an African solution promoting the trust needed to seamlessly trade under the AfCFTA.
The digital platform provides a single primary source of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) data required to conduct customer diligence checks on counterparties in Africa with a special focus on African Corporates, SMEs and financial institutions.
It is set to reduce risks to intra-African trade such as increased financial crime and reduces the high-cost acquisition of Customer Due Diligence.
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