THE AFRICAN TRADE ROUNDTABLE: ”Developing the Interior Design Trade and Services Market through the AFCFTA”
The roundtable featured high-level discussions with senior representatives and industry stakeholders, such as interior designers, furniture manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers, to discuss the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. The AfCFTA is the African Union’s framework to establish a single continental market for goods and services with the free movement of capital and business travelers. AfCFTA presents a chance to defragment the African market, thus enhancing competitiveness and serving as a vehicle to support the achievement of the SDGs.
The forum was a platform for learning, debating, and identifying collaborative solutions to the current challenges in the furniture, fixtures, and design ecosystem and to further encourage intra-Africa trade.
The AfCFTA is expected to eliminate up to 90% of tariffs and allow free movement of labor, thus, advancing Africa’s industrialization and enhancing the overall economies of scale of the countries involved. However, it is evident that the objectives of the AfCFTA will not be achieved in the absence of structural and systemic assimilation of the goals and rules of the regime.
Furthermore, the implementation of the AfCFTA will undoubtedly lead to cross-border disputes between states, businesses, and service providers. It has been argued that given the significant divergence in the approaches to the subject of international commercial law in Africa coupled with the complex political economy surrounding it, the idea of a common market can only materialize if certain concrete interventions are made in response to the new framework of the AfCFTA. Against this backdrop, Design Week Lagos, in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Secretariat organized the African Trade Roundtable under the theme – “Developing the Interior Design Trade and Services Market through the AfCFTA”. The roundtable brought together intra-African trade experts, government officials, international trade and commercial law experts, policymakers, scholars, etc., from across the continent to discuss the pertinent issues arising out of the implementation of the AfCFTA.
INTERIOR DESIGN BUYERS GUIDE APP LAUNCH
The ID Buyers Guide App is a new and innovative platform introduced to Africa’s home décor market. The IDBG App is an all-in-one online marketplace for products and services and a social network for trade and consumers to search, discover and buy interior design products and services within Africa.
A staggering 90% of consumers in Nigeria do not like to visit showrooms, with similar characteristics prevalent across other countries in Africa. That’s why the online home décor and interior design subset of the market within Africa are expected to attract 112.2 million users across Africa by 2025. The app gives customers the chance to experience the ease of shopping and delivery while merchants can expose their products to key players with purchasing power.
Furthermore, the platform also offers an online B2B marketplace for sourcing and connecting consumers with screened and trained designers and decorators, building multiple meaningful pathways to monetization. The ID Buyers Guide App is revolutionary, and it has something for everyone.
Users can easily access a community of interior designers, decorators, architects, homeowners, design enthusiasts, real estate developers, distributors, suppliers, and manufacturers for collaborations, business transactions, personalized home experiences, and updates on industry trends through our forums.
Consumers can also co-create projects or choose to register and get listed as manufacturers, suppliers, or distributors. The IDBG App is a platform with a difference because it focuses not only on interior design in general but also on the many specific and distinct pain points in the African market. It provides a holistic approach towards sourcing, co-creation, and networking in Africa.
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