Zenith Bank signs agreement with AfCFTA on trade portal

<p>Zenith Bank Plc has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat for the development of the SMARTAfCFTA Portal, for trade promotion within the African continent.</p>, <p>The bank said in a statement that, the SMARTAfCFTA Portal had the capacity to provide information like trade indicators, market trends, custom tariffs, trade agreements, rules of origin, and market access requirements of relevant jurisdictions.</p>, <p>It said its capacity provided information on export potentials, export diversification indicators and contact details of business partners in target markets and other trade-related information about Africa.</p>, <p>These, it added, would help to unlock the vast opportunities for trade on the African continent.</p>, <p>The bank said the MoU was signed by the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Zenith Bank Plc, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, and the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, during the 8th annual edition of the Zenith Bank International trade seminar on non-oil export themed, ‘Nigerian non-oil export industry: The present, the future’, which held on Wednesday, in Lagos and virtually.</p>, <p>Speaking on the partnership with AfCFTA for the development of the SMARTAfCFTA Portal, Onyeagwu, said, “This collaboration aims to unlock the vast opportunities presented by AfCFTA, not only for Nigeria’s economic prosperity but also for advancing trade across African countries.”</p>, <p>Onyeagwu noted the key role that the annual Zenith Bank Trade Seminar played in deepening the conversation on promoting non-oil export in Nigeria.</p>, <p>The seminar, he said, brought together non-oil export practitioners and relevant government agencies to interact and explore the opportunities, and proffer solutions to the challenges of non-oil export in the country.</p>, <p>He noted that previous editions’ outcomes had found expression and influenced policy initiatives.</p>, <p>For instance, he said, the extension of the period of repatr