The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), a multilateral development finance institution, has pledged financial and technical support to the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Dr Sidi Ould Tah, President of the Bank, made this disclosure at a press briefing in Accra on Thursday, July 18, noting that the support would go towards facilitating cross-border trade and capacity building of value chain players. He said the Bank in recent times had developed a strategy centred on four pillars, with one of them aimed at challenging the private sector to support the implementation of the AfCFTA agreement. The other pillars are infrastructure financing, agriculture value chain development, and Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) support, all aimed at addressing various bottlenecks to increase intra-continental trade. Responding to a question by the Ghana News Agency on details of the support, he said, the Bank would next week sign a Memorandum of Understa nding (MoU) with the AfCFTA Secretariat to signify their commitment. 'The Bank has already created the African trade facility to support cross-border trade within the continent by providing financing at good rates to businesses that would export their products from one African country to the other,' he said. In addition to this is a capacity development grant to support all value chain players to facilitate trade in Africa through the establishment of digital platforms. The grant would also support feasibility studies on any other means of accelerating the implementation of the agreement, Dr Ould Tah, said. He announced at the press briefing the formation of an Arab-Africa Financial Consortium (AAFC) to serve as a catalyst for resource mobilisation and direct investment for Africa's development. That, Dr Ould Tah said was part of the Bank's 50-year plan to better serve and contribute more to the continent's development through the assistance of its partners. The consortium is to strengthen economic, fin ancial, and technical cooperation between Arab and African countries, with a focus on institutional reforms, funding and investment mechanisms, capacity building, and regional integration. Speaking at the event, Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), acknowledged the continent's challenge to fund its development on favourable terms. He stated that while there had been a shift to China in the last decade for funding to support Africa's development, the Arab-Africa cooperation, presented another significant alternative to mobilise funds for the continent's development. He expressed confidence that the launch of the Arab-Africa Financial Consortium would strengthen the relationship between the two continents, saying, 'There is a recognition that together, the Arab world and Africa can do more for themselves.' Source: Ghana News Agency