Story by Tichaona Kurewa
LOCAL companies have started tapping into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with internet service provider, Dandemutande, expanding into Botswana.
Several African countries, including Zimbabwe, have officially joined AfCFTA which seeks to create a single market for goods and services.
Tapping into this opportunity, internet service provider, Dandemutande has captured the Botswana market as it starts reaping huge benefits from the AfCFTA.
“We are actively looking at expanding our business into the SADC region. So far we have expanded into Botswana, three weeks ago we were issued with an ISP licence. We are now going to be providing service into that territory. We are also actively looking at establishing in Zambia, Malawi and Namibia. We are looking at making sure that all those entities are fully incorporated and operating by end of the second quarter of 2024,” said Dandemutande chief executive officer, Mr Never Ncube.
The company said the expansion was a direct response to opportunities presented by the AfCFTA.
“In the fullest of time we want to make sure that our presence is felt in the whole of the SADC region because that will then speak to the Africa Free Trade Area that has now come into being. We should be able to go out there as Zimbabwe, deliver service and earn foreign currency for our own country,” he added.
Africa contributes only three percent of global trade, despite the continent accounting for 17 percent of the world’s population. Intra-Africa trade presently stands at 15 percent.
