The AfCFTA Country Business Index (ACBI), and the African Development Bank Calls for New Manufacturing Hubs to be Set up in Africa

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has launched the first-ever comprehensive tool that measures how easy, or hard, it is to do business between African countries. The ACBI has 3 key objectives in assessing the perceived impact of the AfCFTA on the private sector’s ability to trade and invest across African borders once the Area is operational. It is not a measure of what a particular country is doing but a measure of how easy it is for someone in one country to set up a business in another country. It will help identify bottlenecks and address issues so that the African private sector can conduct business as seamlessly in their country of origin as anywhere else on the continent. The Index will be available in 13 countries as part of the pilot, including Cameroon, Zambia, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Africa.

Meanwhile, the AfDB has proposed that the continental free trade agreement, AfCFTA, call for a strategy beyond trade to promote industrial manufacturing zones that create jobs for African citizens.