Permanent Conference of African and Francophone Consular Chambers and Intermediary Organizations (CPCCAF) and International Trade Centre (ITC) deepen partnership to support small businesses

Expanded collaboration aims to enhance business support, empower SMEs, and foster innovation in African and French-speaking countries.

The Permanent Conference of African and Francophone Consular Chambers and Intermediary Organizations (known in French as CPCCAF) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) signed a letter of intent to strengthen their collaboration.

The letter was signed during the 13th World Chambers Congress held in Geneva from 21 to 23 June.

The strengthened partnership will further the joint activities by the CPCCAF and the ITC to support the economies of developing countries, in particular African and French-speaking countries. These areas of collaboration include:

• Development of joint projects and collaborative initiatives aimed at strengthening African and French-speaking business support organizations (BSOs) in the services they offer to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• Development of joint publications, like the annual African SME Barometer.
• Joint organization of training workshops and webinars for BSOs and SMEs.
• Sharing methods and tools for business intelligence and market analysis.
• Support for entrepreneurship, innovation and exports by SMEs.
• Promotion of best practices in least-developed economies, particularly for youth and women entrepreneurs.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Trade Centre.