The Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX), in partnership with the Ministries of Transport and Logistics and Industry and Trade, organized this Wednesday in Casablanca a seminar on the theme “What logistics for ZLECAf?”.
The event brought together many Moroccan economic players interested in the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ZLECAF).
This free trade area indeed represents a historic milestone for Moroccan exporters, offering vast opportunities for trade expansion across the African continent and opening up new prospects for economic growth.
To take full advantage of this opportunity, it is essential to put in place robust and efficient logistics that facilitate trade between the participating countries, insisted the participants in this seminar.
In his speech, Hassan Sentissi El Idrissi, President of ASMEX, stressed the importance of logistics in the economic success of this major initiative and called for close collaboration between the public and private sectors to set up effective solutions.
“Economic projections have shown that if countries in Africa trade more with each other, the potential of becoming the world’s eighth largest economic bloc will become a reality. This requires substantive actions on the aspects of SME export competitiveness, rules of origin, technical standards and product safety, access to financing and business capacity building”, said Hassan Sentissi. El Idrissi.
How to take advantage of ZLECAF?
The seminar panels thus allowed participants to get even closer to the issues related to ZLECAF and logistics. The first, focusing on the key factors for Moroccan exporters to benefit from the opportunities of the continental agreement, explored the business strategies and partnerships needed for successful expansion into African markets.
“ZLECAF is salvation for all of Africa. It is the largest customs union in the world and African countries are now aware of the potential for development and growth that it represents for the future of para-African trade,” said Saloua Karkri, President of the Commission. ASMEX Africa.
The second panel focused on improving logistics competitiveness and encouraged the exchange of experiences and best practices in supply chain and transport.
At the end of the debates, the Scientific Committee of the seminar, composed of all the actors of the ecosystem of facilitation of procedures and logistics, formulated concrete recommendations to optimize logistics within the framework of ZLECAF.
The final recommendations, presented during the closing session, offer key insights for enhancing regional connectivity, improving transport infrastructure and facilitating intra-African trade.
They focused on areas relating to the development of the exportable offer, geostrategic positioning, strengthening of intra-African partnership, reduction of logistics costs, upgrading of infrastructure, standardization, digitalization, development of fleet and finally the financing and settlement of exports.
