German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has partnered with the logistics company Deutsche Post DHL Group to give small and medium-sized enterprises from developing countries access to global markets.
The partners want to invest 30 million euros in the coming years for digitization of customs and trade processes, the promotion of e-commerce and logistics low emission in cities.
This initiative will begin in Morocco, Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. A corresponding agreement was signed this week by the Federal Minister Gerd Müller and Frank Appel CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group.
“The corona crisis and the lockdown have disrupted supply chains in developing countries. Millions of companies are fighting for survival. Right now, we have to keep economic cycles going. But bureaucratic customs procedures and corruption are hampering intra-African trade,” Federal Minister Gerd Müller said.
A new digital system will help medium-sized African companies to handle customs completely digitally.
“We are also creating new sale markets worldwide via new e-commerce platforms. All this will accelerate trade, create transparency and enables enormous leaps in development,” Muller said
Added he: “We place particular emphasis on training and the promotion of women as entrepreneurs. And we are deliberately focusing on digitization. Nowhere is digitization progressing faster than in Africa. Some African countries are already further ahead than Europe – for example, in cashless payment via smartphone.”
The Corona crisis is cutting trade relations in developing countries and plunging an additional 115 million people into poverty this year alone.
“Cross border trade creates prosperity, improves lives and connects people – but in many regions there are still major hurdles. Together with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development we are working decisively on removing those hurdles,” Appel said.
Trade barriers, such as bureaucratic, non-transparent – and thus often corruption-prone – customs procedures, hit developing countries particularly hard and make it more difficult for them to access world trade, he added.
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