African govt called upon to support SMEs, Agriculture sector.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has urged African governments to scale up support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the agricultural sector through targeted and sustainable trade facilitation measures.

The Acting Director of ECA’s Regional Integration and Trade Division, Meluka Desta made the remarks during the global launch of the 2025 United Nations Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation this week.

“Enhanced efforts in implementing specific trade facilitation measures, particularly trade facilitation measures for SMEs and agricultural trade facilitation, are crucial considering that SMEs and agriculture are the backbone of most African economies,” said Desta.

“This is particularly important in the context of the imperative for successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” he said.

According to the sixth edition of the UN Global Survey, Africa recorded a notable 6.8 percentage point increase in the implementation of overall trade facilitation measures, from 55.6 per cent in 2023 to 62.4 per cent in 2025.

The highest implementation rates are observed in the Southern and Eastern Africa regions, reflecting ongoing regional efforts to streamline and digitize trade-related processes.

Globally, the survey found that while overall implementation rose to 70 per cent, progress on sustainable trade facilitation measures including those aimed at women traders, SMEs, and the agricultural sector remains limited.

Meanwhile the Survey confirms strong performance by developed economies (86%), followed by South-East and East Asia (81%), while countries in the Pacific region recorded the lowest implementation rate (45%).

"Improvements were particularly significant in areas such as cross-border paperless trade, legal frameworks for e-transactions, and digital authentication signaling growing global momentum toward digitized trade." reads part of the survey