The Trade Hub trained 18 exporters (including 7 women) in basic accounting as part of eBizBox II, a package of tools, services, and training targeting improved use of ICT. Participants learned how to cost and price their products using Excel, and how to use a custom-developed Excel spreadsheet accounting template. Additional workshops will present practical information on using ICT for website development, online marketing and communications efficiency, and digital image management. The initiative is part of the USAID-Intel Alliance implemented by the Trade Hub. ICT, including software, hardware and connectivity, is key to linking West African exporters to world markets.

The Trade Hub’s directory of exporters is now viewable on a Google map. The map includes relevant information about each company the Trade Hub works with in West Africa, including contact information and address. The up-to-date directory is still available as a downloadable pdf on the Trade Hub’s main website.

Trade Hub Home Décor Advisor Elaine Bellezza worked with internationally renowned South African designer, Marisa Frick-Jordan on new collections from Senegal and with celebrated designers Cheick Diallo and Frederic Alcantara on collections from Burkina Faso and Mali. The new product collections will be introduced at trade shows in the U.S. and Europe, including the New York International Gift Fair Aug. 14-18 in New York City. Companies from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Senegal will participate in the show with Trade Hub assistance. 

 The Government of Ghana must make more concerted efforts to address the challenges facing exporting companies and maximize the impact of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, managers of exporting companies told government officials at the AGOA Policy Dialogue in Accra. More than 200 people attended the event, which was organized by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham University in New York City. 

In separate announcements, the governments of Senegal and Togo pledged to reduce checkpoints on roads and highways in their countries that are part of “primary trade corridors.” The pledges were reported in major media in both countries and followed Borderless road shows in the countries. They repeated the pledges at the 5th annual steering committee meeting of the Trade Hub-UEMOA Improved Road Transport Governance initiative held in Dakar, Senegal. If implemented, trucks carrying goods along the corridors would make their trips faster, improving the efficiency and lowering the cost of road transport. 

The world’s largest fashion trade event, the MAGIC Marketplace, will feature four Trade Hub-assisted apparel companies from Cameroon and Ghana. The event showcases the biggest and best assortment of apparel brands competing in the U.S. market. Decent Touch, Global Garments & Textiles and Manise Designs of Ghana and Ken Atlantic of Cameroon will participate. There will also be some observers like Es N Yaa and Aisbem of Nigeria whose samples will also be exhibited.

Senegal has adopted new rules to make the export of textiles easier and quicker for exporting companies seeking to take advantage of trade preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The new rules streamline export procedures and were written by the country’s AGOA National Committee with Trade Hub assistance. AGOA eliminates tariffs on over 6,400 products produced in eligible African countries.