The US Government initiative, Prosper Africa, has launched the Tech for Trade Alliance in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), major US companies and Government agencies. The announcement was made at the Africa Fintech Summit held on April 12, 2023, in Washington DC at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
The alliance, supported by leading US and African companies, aims to accelerate e-commerce and digital trade in Africa while addressing legal, regulatory, and logistical bottlenecks.
The Prosper Africa Tech for Trade Alliance is aligned with two signature White House initiatives, Prosper Africa, and Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA), which aim to increase two-way trade and investment between the US and African countries and strengthen digital access, literacy, and digital enabling environments across the continent.
The inaugural Alliance includes companies such as Cargill, Google, Mastercard, Visa, DHL, UPS, FedEx, Paypal, Youredi, VTEX, eCommerce Institute, Celo, Interswitch, Kasha, King & Spalding, HelloTractor, The Africa Talent Company, and Nextrade Group. By leveraging the technology assets, services, and expertise of these companies, the alliance intends to grow African trade and e-commerce flows in goods and services, promote African firms and economies’ trade and productivity, build the African workforce’s technological talent to create their own technology companies, and promote a better policy-enabling environment for trade and investment in Africa.
Prosper Africa, in collaboration with other US government agencies, engaged with tech innovators, founders, and ecosystem players to showcase the full suite of US government services and resources to advance fintech growth and US-Africa investment.
Since launching Prosper Africa in June 2019, the US government has helped close 1100 deals across 49 countries for a total estimated value of $65 billion in two-way trade and investment.