Nigeria

<p>To investigate the potential of expanding investment (and trade) linkages between India and Africa, capitalizing on the structural changes and resulting opportunities brought forth by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). &nbsp;</p><p>Will assess constraints and opportunities in each of these four areas and provide concrete recommendations for policy action. In addition, several transversal thematic areas will be probed and emphasized upon &ndash; technology and knowledge transfer, south-south cooperation at the institutional level, developing technical capacities, and environmental sustainability. The paper can eventually evolve into a strategic action plan for both policymakers and the private sector in India.</p><p>The objective is to analyze opportunities for enhancing Indian investment in Africa from four perspectives - automotive, pharmaceutical, agro-processing, textile, and renewable energy -with case studies in each to describe working models which may enhance business interest and highlight potential.</p><p>Case studies on investments under Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa (SITA) will also be updated to reflect the current, post-investment operating environment.</p><p><br></p>

<p>AIM for Results is an intervention approach that strengthens the performance, efficiency and effectiveness of TISIs and builds their capacity to provide more effective support to the internationalisation needs of their clients, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).</p><p>AIM stands for Assess, Improve and Measure. It is a holistic and targeted integrated three-step-approach focusing on measurable results in order to improve the managerial, operational and service delivery performance of TSIs. The three pillars of AIM are offered either as a single module or as a complete performance improvement programme, depending on the needs of the beneficiary institutions.</p><p>&nbsp;In 2017, the project aims to improve the operational and managerial performance of 40 TISIs applying ITC&rsquo;s AIM For Results methodology.</p>

<p>The objective of this project is to enhance the functionalities and effective use of Trade Facilitation Portals by beneficiary countries with a view to create a more conducing cross-border environment for traders through improved transparency and simplified trade formalities.<span>&nbsp;This project builds upon ITC - UNCTAD longstanding partnership in the area of trade facilitation and creates opportunities for further build synergies across the agencies&apos; respective technical assistance offering.</span></p>

<p><span lang="EN-GB">COVID-19 has vastly accelerated the growth and adoption of e-commerce. It is critical that women-led businesses are able to harness the power of e-commerce to internationalize their business and reach new markets. The <strong>SheTrades: Empowering African women through e-commerce</strong> project, funded by GIZ, aims to promote economic growth and job creation in Nigeria and South Africa through the increased participation of women-led businesses in digital trade. The project will build the competitiveness, digital skills and e-market connectivity of 100 of women-led SMEs and will work with&nbsp;</span>two key partners, specifically the SheTrades Hubs hosted by The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and South Africa&rsquo;s Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA). This project will also work with<span lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;market partners including buyers, to help them implement strategies to support women in their supply chains.&nbsp;</span></p>

<p>The overall objective of the proposed project is to attract investment and promote trade and sustainable industrial and business development at continental level, concretely supporting the AfCFTA Secretariat and the African Union and delivering on the Africa-EU partnership for sustainable growth and jobs.&nbsp;</p><p>The project contributes to this objective by</p><ul><li>identifying trade and investment opportunities along regional value chains with potential at continental scale in Africa, including potential for investment by EU economic operators;</li><li>Strengthening the EU-Africa dialogue on trade and economic integration, informing high-level events such as the upcoming AU-EU Summit and European- African Business Forum (EABF)</li><li>identifying pilot/selected continental value chains that could be targeted for support in the EU 2021-27 aid programming exercise.</li></ul><p>It supports the implementation of the AfCFTA and ITC&apos;s One Trade Africa Initiative.</p>

<p>The project will support pharmaceutical enterprises and business support organizations to improve the viability and competitiveness of vaccine manufacturing investments in Nigeria. Over the long term, the project will ultimately improve vaccine security in Africa.</p><p>This objective will be achieved by facilitating a public private dialogue and removing barriers to investments in vaccine manufacturing and barriers to trade in vaccines and vaccine supplies. The project will improve the capacity of enterprises in the vaccine supply chain from vaccine supplies to vaccine distribution in Nigeria and establish effective strategies for accessing vaccine component markets and winning public procurement for vaccines in Africa. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>This project document proposes the establishment and piloting of a blended, non-accredited, vocational and practical training programme concentrated around the fundamentals of exporting and the opportunities resulting from the AfCFTA. This curriculum will be developed by the SME Trade Academy in collaboration with the Afreximbank.</p><p>Local partners, such as trade training institutions will provide support in implementation of the pilot programme in three countries, namely Nigeria, Rwanda and C&ocirc;te d&apos;Ivoire.</p><p>The pilot will involve building local partners&rsquo; capacity to market the training and conduct sessions on a continuous basis, localizing the offering for each national context.</p><p>An <strong><span style="color: rgb(184, 49, 47);">expansion phase</span></strong> has been added to the project involving a further 12 countries. The online training will be opened to all African countries.</p>

<p>The Diploma in International Trade is<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>a new offering for the SME Trade Academy. The project was initiated in 2020 to build capacity of professionals and SMEs in International Trade, by providing high quality, internationally accredited certification through the Institute of Exports and International Trade (IOE&amp;IT).&nbsp;</p><p>The project has three prong collaboration between ITC, IOE&amp;IT and the local TSI.&nbsp;</p><p><span>&middot;<span>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</span></span>ITC will provide the online platform for each TSI, convert IOE&amp;IT content and Assessments to suitable online learning format and methodology.</p><p><span>&middot;<span>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</span></span>IoE will provide the SME Trade Academy with learning resources, assessors and certification&nbsp;</p><p><span>&middot;<span>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</span></span>The TSI&rsquo;s will be responsible for its marketing, invoicing, collection, assessment management and learner support.</p><p>The pilot targeted three countries Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya, in 2020 the Diploma in International Trade was launched in Ghana in collaboration with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA). <span>&nbsp;</span>2021, saw the pilot of the project expand to Nigeria in partnership with Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), while GEPA successfully marketed and launched a second cohort of the programme. The Diploma is fee-based and Ghana&rsquo;s second paid cohort is proof that there is a demand in the market for this type of certification.&nbsp;</p><p>In 2022, the pilot is scheduled to expand it&rsquo;s reach to Kenya in partnership with the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA). delivered&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><span>The overall objective of the regional programme is to &lsquo;&rsquo;Strengthen the competitiveness of West Africa through an enhanced level of production, transformation and export capacities of the private sectors in line with the regional and national industrial and SME strategies&rsquo;&rsquo;. The specific objective is &lsquo;&rsquo;to improve the performance and growth of selected priority sectors and value chains and related services by stimulating their contribution to industry, regional trade and exports&rsquo;&rsquo;. The intervention of ITC in the form of the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) will entail the implementation of the activities related to&nbsp;</span><span>the promotion of better regional linkages among selected value chain, support to</span>&nbsp;<span>key regional intermediary organizations, the reinforcement of industrial competitiveness in the region, and the establishment of the West African Competitiveness Observatory and related business tools.</span></p>

<p>The aim of the programme is to <strong>increase the participation of women-owned businesses in trade in order to increase economic growth and job creation in Commonwealth countries</strong>. With interventions at the beneficiary-, firm-, institutional-, national- and inter-national level, it will: &nbsp;</p><ul><li>Address policy change at the national level, making trade-related policies gender responsive;</li><li>Facilitate new/better linkages with buyers and investors internationally; connecting women to opportunities and facilitating gender sensitive business practice; &nbsp;</li><li>Support BSOs and the private sector to strengthen the business environment for women owned businesses;</li><li>Support BSOs to target women owned business directly to improve capacity; combining face to face training with coaching, mentoring and exposure to buyers.</li></ul>