In July 2020, the government of Kenya started negotiations with the United States for the conclusion of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Such negotiations were initiated to ensure to Kenya a more stable access to the US market, due to the imminent expiration of the AGOA (in 2025), a unilateral (non-reciprocal) preferential trade arrangement of which Kenya is beneficiary that allows eligible least developed and developing countries from Sub-Saharan Africa to export duty free and quota free to the US market a series of products corresponding to about 2000 product lines of the Harmonised System.

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The AfCFTA Secretariat and the International Trade Centre (ITC), during the Africa Industrialization Week held in Niamey (Niger) from 20-25 November 2022, launched a publication titled “Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Area: a glossary” to facilitate the understanding of the Agreement. The AfCFTA glossary, which is not yet available on-line, has been produced with input from the private sector and explains 100 AfCFTA-related technical terms to help especially small firms to better understand the legal provisions and technical rules of the Agreement. During the same event, ITC and the AfCFTA Secretariat also announced the conclusion of a mapping exercise of the African private sector to understand the challenges faced by small businesses on the Continent by identifying the characteristics, level of competitiveness and constraints of African firms, including the performance and degree of interconnectedness of regional Business Support Organizations (BSOs).

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