Our work and impact in trade facilitation and commerce

International cooperation is a powerful tool to bridge expertise, empower national and regional institutions, foster knowledge exchange, and support deep, sustainable transformations. It enables concrete solutions adapted to the priorities of our partner countries. Our work is built around three strategic pillars:

• Improve the business environment: We do this by empowering women economically, developing one-stop shops, digitalising administrative procedures, and supporting investment promotion agencies.
• Strengthen our partner countries’ trade capacities: This is achieved by supporting trade and export development, building inclusive and sustainable economic zones, and promoting export agencies and industrialisation strategies.
• Promote economic and regional cooperation: This is done by supporting major trade agreements like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to reinforce value chains, enhance mobility, and develop shared infrastructure. Collaborative development of inclusive, sustainable trade corridors is a top priority under the European Commission’s Global Gateway initiative.

Additionally, we support public-private partnerships by developing legal and institutional frameworks, guiding public investment planning, and building institutional capacities.

We also work with development banks, especially depository institutions, because they play a key role in achieving the SDGs. Our work in this area focuses on strengthening capacities, delivering technical assistance in combination with credit lines from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), supporting diaspora savings, and fostering sustainable finance.

Support for inclusive and sustainable economic development is essential to poverty reduction. A better business climate, economic integration, and better access to the formal economy, markets, and capital – particularly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises –  contributes directly to the SDGs and a just economic transition.

Our action aligns with national and international strategies, including the Choose Africa initiative, which promotes African entrepreneurship through one-stop shops.

In line with our mission to further French economic and soft power diplomacy, and in accordance with the commitments of the Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development of 18 July 2023, we strengthen dialogue with French businesses operating in state-run sectors. To do this, we collaborate with public bodies responsible for supporting businesses, specifically Business France at a regional and national level, the chambers of commerce and industry at a local level, and MEDEF International for large corporations.

Our services in trade facilitation and commerce include the following areas of expertise:

• Business environment: Support regulatory and institutional reform to enhance business competitiveness and attract private investment
• Public-private partnerships (PPPs): Organise the legal, institutional and technical aspects of PPP projects in key sectors like infrastructure and public services
• Regional economic integration: Support continental and regional integration through trade negotiations (e.g., AfCFTA)
• Economic reform: Provide technical assistance to government ministries and institutions on macroeconomic and sectoral reform

We provide these services through technical assistance projects, institutional auditing, capacity building, and the deployment of experts.