Border Information Center opens at the Port of Dakar

105 stakeholders in Senegal participated in the launch of West Africa’s fourth Border Information Center in Dakar. The new center is hosted by the Conseil Sénégalais des Chargeurs (COSEC).

The USAID Trade Hub published a special 2012 AGOA Forum edition of Tradewinds, its monthly newsletter, including columns by USAID Trade Hub Director Vanessa Adams, Senegalese entrepreneur Magatte Wade, Vital Voices Africa Program Coordinator Sarah Ewing, AWEP Ghana President Comfort Adjahoe and USAID Trade Hub Transport Director Niels Rasmussen. A report on the Borderless 2012 conference, including video footage, and a report on moving goods on the Cotonou-Niamey corridor also feature.

Borderless: Business Environment
Ghana’s Customs Service will rehabilitate a parking lot at the Ghana-Togo border in Aflao that will serve as an “express lane,” the service said in meetings with the USAID Trade Hub. Long delays at the border are a barrier to trade, significantly reducing trade along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, USAID Trade Hub studies show. www.borderlesswa.com

From the launch of the new Global Shea Alliance to the grafting of shea trees to a business-to-business forum, “Shea 2011: Sustainable Solutions” connected hundreds of shea stakeholders from across West Africa and around the world to each other and the information they need to grow the industry.

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis and Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa Florizelle Liser discussed business challenges with stakeholders.  International and national exporting companies, a Member of Parliament, and finance and transport service providers participated in the stakeholder roundtable moderated by USAID Trade Hub Director Vanessa Adams and held at the USAID Trade Hub’s Accra, Ghana, office on Feb. 21.

USAID Africa Bureau Director Ricardo Michel and new USAID Trade and Investment Advisor Brinton Bohling discussed challenges to exporting with West African producers at a roundtable facilitated by the USAID Trade Hub in Accra, Ghana, and moderated by USAID Trade Hub Director Vanessa Adams.

Implementing a regional warehouse receipt scheme, improving collaboration among regional and national stakeholders in agricultural sectors, and increasing advocacy communications among stakeholders are among 10 strategic recommendations from the USAID Trade Hub’s recently submitted study of regional agricultural trade policy and transport in West Africa.

Business
The Centre de Formation Artisanale de Recyclage et de Recuperation in Senegal, an AfricaNow! partner company that receives technical assistance from the USAID Trade Hub, has won the prestigious Artisanal Creativity award at the 12th edition of the Salon International de l’Artisanat de Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. The prize includes a significant financial award and a two-year scholarship in France for one of the center’s youth. www.africa-now.org

In FY2010, the USAID West Africa Trade Hub facilitated over US$12.3 million in exports from West African exporters, created 930 jobs (252 for women) and trained over 2,100 people (787 women). At 22 international trade events, 515 companies from 13 countries established almost 3,000 market linkages. With public and private sector partners, the USAID Trade Hub launched a regional advocacy campaign – Borderless – that drew international attention to the urgent need to remove trade barriers across West Africa.