Access Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA) have signed an agreement with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) The agreement is aimed at facilitating the ongoing push to promote seamless trading across Africa The significance of the agreement is that it gives Africans an opportunity to exchange goods and services without the need to source dollars first . Access Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA) have signed an agreement with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) that will help remove trade barriers The agreement was reached during the annual meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Accra, Ghana.
Remembering Prince Keep Watching Afreximbank is spearheading the effort to promote intra-Africa trade. Photo credit: Onasis Gaisie Source: Getty Images Insights into the agreements Afreximbank has been promoting its initiative called Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which helps reduce the complexities of foreign exchange for cross-border transactions between African markets. With PAPSS African traders will no longer need to convert local currencies into dollars or other hard currencies to complete a transaction.
Access Bank and UBA joined other leading African group banks in signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) on the use of PAPSS. More details of UBA, Access bank agreements According to UBA, the sectors expected to benefit from comprehensive support and trade facilitation include Pharmaceuticals, Automobiles, Transport and logistics, Agriculture and agro-processing, as reported by BusinessDay.
On the other hand, Victor Etuokwu, Deputy Managing Director, Retail North at Access Bank, highlighted that the agreement will enable the establishment of a payment infrastructure to mobilise resources for driving inter-African trade. He further mentioned that Access Bank has traders, businesses, and SMEs in every country of the continent, engaging in trade with counterparts from other parts of Africa. Etuokwu explained that the PAPSS will provide platform where payments can be made without the requirement of the US dollar to facilitate transactions.
Meanwhile, in another report, the naira to the dollar exchange rate at the official and black markets met for the first time in eight years and closed at N756. This followed the recent foreign exchange reforms embarked upon by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Kingsley Obiora, the CBN’s deputy governor, has further explained the ongoing operational reforms in Nigeria’s foreign exchange markets.
Source: Legit.ng
