THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID), TradeMark Africa (TMA) and the East African Business Council (EABC) have launched a grant fund totalling $508,000 to boost the capital and credit potential for upwards of 220 small enterprises.

David Rogers, the USAID deputy director overseeing the East African zone said the news initiative underscores the need for increased collaboration across the region.

The collaboration is focused on sustained engagement with policymakers and the private sector on the matters related to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he stated.

David Beer, CEO at TMA, aired the view that private-sector action is critical to ensure a unified message from businesses to policymakers at national, regional and continental levels.

Adrian Njau, the EABC acting executive director, stated that institutional collaboration will enable women, youth, SMEs and other value chain actors to access trade policy instruments and participate in intra-Africa trade.

"To this end, the initiative will engage key stakeholders, including the East African Women in Business Platform (EAWiBP), the East African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for Advancement of Women (EASSI), and YouLead,” he stated.

Small and medium enterprises are targeted as well as 3000 farmers, processors and private proprietors within the AfCFTA zone encompassing 55 member states of the African Union, he elaborated.

The three-year partnership funded by the USAID Economic Recovery and Reform Activity (USAID-ERRA) was launched in Nairobi yesterday and will focus on reducing trade constraints.

It especially looks towards uplifting high-potential agricultural exports: tea/mate, coffee, rice, vegetables, staple foods, cotton, textiles and garments.

EABC will also work to resolve 12 high-impact non-tariff barriers, facilitate trade deals through business-to-business market linkages and increase awareness of market opportunities under the AfCFTA, he further noted.

A study undertaken by TMA and the East Africa Community (EAC) secretariat indicates that the total EAC trade potential in the AfCFTA zone is estimated at $1.9bn.

Kenya has a bigger share of this potential at $705.5m followed by Tanzania at $594m, the DRC with $342m potential, while Uganda has $178.2m potential, Rwanda $36.1m and Burundi at $1.3m.