USAID's Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub has launched a Strategic Partnership Fund to provide matching funding to organizations and firms.
Progress toward establishing a National Single Window moved forward after an inter-ministerial workshop in Namibia held Feb. 27, 2017. Attended by senior public and private sector stakeholders, the event was a critical step in moving Namibia closer to implementing its National Single Window for Trade. The primary objective was to determine how to structure the operating authority for NSW in Namibia, with participants deliberating over fully Government funded options and the many possibilities offered through a Public Private Partnership.
USAID’s Southern Africa Trade Hub has been assisting the Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI) in Zambia with the establishment of an online management information system. The new system, called “Seed-Lab,” improves the services available at SCCI and will automate the entire seed inspection and verification process in the country.
On February 16, 2016, USAID’s Southern Africa Trade Hub supported the Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) to host a one-day workshop on Non-Automatic Weighing Instruments (NAWIs) subject to Legal Metrology control in Windhoek, Namibia.
One of the Trade Hub's most effective initiatives has been the Strategic Partnership Grants program, which used small grants to catalyze business partnerships between South African agribusinesses and agribusinesses in the Feed-the-Future focus countries of Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique.
Roughly half of all American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) members source from Africa, and following last summer’s ten-year renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), that number is likely to increase. However, as discussed during the AAFA-sponsored “Sourcing at Magic” seminar on February 17, 2016, entitled “Africa on the Verge,” duty-free access is temporary and the continent needs to put the infrastructure in place so that in ten years, the continent’s textile and apparel industry will be competitive without the trade advantage.
On Friday, February 19, 2016, the United States Agency for International Development's Southern Africa Mission along with the Regional Economic Growth Office (REGO) and the Southern Africa Trade Hub celebrated five plus years of project implementation and success with a handover ceremony in Pretoria at the USAID Regional Mission.
USAID’s Southern Africa Trade Hub supported the Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) to host a one-day workshop on the Trade Metrology Act focusing on Road Safety and the Traffic Industry, on February 15, 2016 in Windhoek.
With input from the communications teams from USAID’s Southern Africa Trade Hub, East Africa Trade and Investment Hub, and West Africa Trade and Investment Hub, a company directory and pull-up banners featuring the Africa Advantage branding were designed and produced for MAGIC Las Vegas which took place from February 15-18, 2016.
USAID’s Southern Africa Trade Hub and its local partner organization, the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP), delivered a Persuasive Communications and Assertiveness Workshop for Women in Business in Windhoek, Namibia, from February 16-18, 2016.
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