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Zambia is among the 10 African countries earmarked for market study under the Standard Bank’s Africa Trade Barometer to be unveiled on Thursday this week.
The barometer will focus initially on Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
It currently shares comparative data on trade openness, access to finance, macroeconomic stability, infrastructure, foreign trade, governance, economy and trade finance behaviour.
The Barometer is expected to become Africa’s leading trade index.
Edward Kara Banda, Head of Business & Commercial Banking Stanbic Bank, said the barometer was expected to become the leading index of African trade trends, activities and developments as Africa’s small, medium and large businesses.
“We expect the Africa Trade Barometer to become the leading index of African trade trends, activities and developments as Africa’s small, medium and large businesses define the continent’s next stage of domestic growth and regional and global expansion,” Banda said in a statement issued on Monday.
Read more: Minister Mulenga calls for improved inter-African trade to check capital flight out of continent
Qualitative and quantitative intelligence gathered from 2, 400 firms representing SMEs, large family businesses, corporates and multinationals across all 10 economies is analysed and then augmented with third-party sources including the World Bank, International Trade Center, and individual country central banks.
According to Banda, the result presented one of the most comprehensive views of actual trade as experienced on the ground by real African businesses.
Trends and analysis gleaned would also provide insight into the broader regions that the 10 study markets represent.
This unique view of African trade will provide a valuable resource for businesspeople, students, governments, NGOs and investors considering the continent – as well as African entrepreneurs – to assess and leverage Africa’s considerable trade opportunity, currently estimated in the region of US$70 billion annually.
Banda believed his bank had a duty to “leverage its privileged position, presence and insight to intelligently inform and grow the continent’s trade ecosystem.”
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