Communicating Freedom: Major Successes for the Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity
April 11, 2023
Since the Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity (IATP) launched in May 2021, 10 African nations have ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, bringing the overall number of ratifications to 46 (out of 54 nations). Several countries that are home to partners which IATP works closely with – such as Burundi, the DRC, Cameroon, Uganda, Nigeria, and Tanzania – have all ratified the agreement since the IATP’s launch.
While ratification is an important step toward successful implementation of the agreement, the governments of these states still need to take action to facilitate trade in their nations (reduce tariff rates, remove non-tariff barriers to trade, take action against border corruption, etc.) which is what many IATP partners are now working to make sure happens.
“The IATP is thrilled to support our partners who are doing fantastic work across Sub-Saharan Africa. We firmly believe that the policies our partners are pushing for will improve the lives of millions across Africa,” notes the Director of IATP, Alexander Hammond.
Sponsored Events
With Rising Tide support, the IATP has funded 27 events with 3,700 attendees across six countries since May 2022. These events take many different formats, from student and press conferences to workshops with businesspeople, politicians, and other members of civil society. Let’s take a look at some of the important work taking place across the African continent to liberalize economies across the region!
Liberty Sparks held a Young Scholar’s Colloquium in October 2022 in Tanzania.
In East Africa, Liberty Sparks has held webinars, student events, and reached out to secondary school teachers, non-profit leaders, and university lecturers to promote free trade in their region. They are also prolific at writing and publishing articles in various media outlets. Their Young Scholars Colloquium brought together 30 young scholars and journalists from 7 Sub-Saharan African nations to discuss how to write about trade and the role that greater economic liberalization can play in Sub-Saharan Africa’s development.