By Abdi Ali
Published November 2, 2024
In a bid to strengthen the role of Africa’s sub-sovereign governments in driving intra-African trade and investment, and the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the County Government of Kisumu and the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), is organising the fourth edition of the African Sub-Sovereign Governments Network (AfSNET) Conference.
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The Conference will take place November 25-27 under the theme ‘Leveraging the AfCFTA for Sustainable Trade and Investment: A Development Pathway for African Sub-Sovereigns.’ A key feature of the event will be an exhibition aimed at promoting trade at a local level, to be preceded by an investment promotion training on the first day.
One of the key objectives of the conference is to foster greater collaboration in promoting trade, development and investment initiatives among African sub-sovereigns, aligned with AfCFTA’s goals.
“Afreximbank partnered with the Forum of Regions of Africa (FORAF), an organ of the UCLG Africa under the AfSNET initiative to ensure its products and interventions for trade and investment promotion are accessible both at the local and sub-sovereign level. This resulted in the announcement of US$ 2 billion in financing to tackle the pressing financing challenges faced by sub-sovereigns and businesses,” says Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President for Intra African Trade and Export Development with Afreximbank.
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While inviting delegates to participate in the forum, Kisumu County Governor, Peter Anyang Nyong’o says: “Africa’s economic renaissance is hinged on unbridling the developmental capacity of local governments and increasing decentralization. Despite the gains made in decentralization in recent decades, African local governments still have low administrative and fiscal capacity to realize the much-needed local economic development. AfSNET, an innovative tool of the Afreximbank, therefore comes in handy to bridge that gap and allow sub sovereigns to accelerate and improve the quality of economic growth in Africa. Its vision aligns with the aspirations of the African Sub Sovereigns umbrella organisation UCLG Africa to support decentralised governments access and participation in continental and international financial markets while also supporting the development of their fiscal capacities. As the Governor of Kisumu, it gives me great pleasure to warmly invite all the delegates to come and interact and share in the social and cultural passion of Kisumu and to experience our boundless economic opportunities.”
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“Among the mandates of UCLG Africa is to assist its members to attract investments in sub-national and local governments so as to improve the living conditions of the populations, economic activities and businesses established within their territories. UCLG Africa supports its members in adopting local economic development policies and strategies that investment plans derive from, and that gives impetus to public and private business development,” says Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa.
The fourth AfSNET conference will provide Kisumu County Government and the Lake Victoria region economic block an opportunity to present their development strategies and projects for consideration to investors attending the Conference.
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The inaugural AfSNET conference, held in Durban, South Africa, on the margins of the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2021) in 2021, attracted more than 80 delegates while the second, organised in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in Abuja in September 2022, drew more than 150 delegates.
The third conference, co-hosted with UCLG Africa in November 2023 on the sidelines IATF2023 in Cairo, had more than 250 participants and resulted in deals valued at more than USD$1.5 billion being signed.
AfSNET was established by Afreximbank as a platform for promoting intra-African trade and investment, educational and cultural exchanges.
