THE FUTURE OF TRADE & INDUSTRIALIZATION

Gerold Dreyer holds a Bachelor’s degree in Software Development from the Namibia University of Science & Technology (NUST). In his personal capacity, he has been a devote Global Shaper since 2018. He is passionately driving Pan-African youth empowerment & development through entrepreneurship, innovation and education and has worked with the African Union Commission, United Nations and G20 on these topics.

For the past few years he has been working at the German Development Agency (GIZ), where he is based at the StartUp Namibia project as a Junior Technical Advisor. His role is centered on Monitoring & Evaluation and Digitalization. In August 2022, he started working for an additional GIZ project named Make- IT in Africa, which aims to strengthen innovation ecosystems across the continent. As a regional project, Make-IT in Africa is operational in multiple countries.

Since 2017, Make-IT has been working in Accra, Ghana and Kigali, Rwanda serving the West and East African regions, respectively. The Southern African office based in Windhoek began operations earlier this year, and is excited to start implementation in the region.

The African continent is home to eight of the world’s fifteen least economically diversified countries. How can youth play a bigger role in future diversification of Africa's economy?

Innovation! It is no secret that youth have some of the brightest ideas. These ideas should be harnessed and nurtured so that they can be turned into viable businesses. By addressing barriers to trade in services, boosting relevant skills and improving access to innovative alternative financing, the continent’s manufacturing productivity can be enhanced, driving Africa’s economic growth and structural transformation for many years to come.

How can youth position themselves to be beneficiaries of the AfCFTA?

Efforts to connect African traders across countries should deliberately include youth-owned/led businesses. There is opportunity for the emergence of youth-focused cooperatives and pooled purchasing systems to aggregate demand and lower costs of trade through economies of scale. Similarly, trade service providers e.g. transportation, logistics and travel, should consider offering reduced rates for young cross-border traders. Countries are currently developing AfCFTA implementation strategies/ action plans and reforming traderelated rules and practices to ensure alignment with the AfCFTA.

These efforts should look beyond macro and sectoral considerations to concretely identify production and investment opportunities for youth-led businesses. National and regional implementation strategies can clearly link to already identified – and novel – priorities for youth development.

In your opinion how can African Governments and leaders foster an environment that supports the growth of MSMEs, particularly for the youth?

The Government has a big role to play in creating an enabling environment for MSME formation and growth. This can be done through the creation of incubation centers where MSMEs can receive the relevant support to ideate, prototype, pivot and accelerate their ideas/ventures and gain the practical know-how on successfully running a business. Secondarily, access to finance. Given the huge financing needs and the difficulty in accessing bank loans, there is a call for more innovative financial instruments for African MSMEs to secure access to finance i.e. subsidized loans, longer repayment terms, lower interest rates etc. In addition, access to the market. Youth- owned MSMEs should be given preference to benefit from the AfCFTA with specific measures put in place to prioritize them.

Finally, I wish to commend African Governments for existing legal and regulatory frameworks they have in place to mainstream youth empowerment and development in their countries. .

"I wish to commend African Governments for existing legal and regulatory frameworks they have in place to mainstream youth empowerment and development in their countries." -Gerold Dreyer