I had the privilege of attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier this year for WaystoCap. The invitation was by virtue of the fact that WaystoCap is now amongst World Economic Forum technology pioneers alongside other well known innovators such as Kickstarter, AirBnB and Google.

I had the privilege of attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier this year for WaystoCap. The invitation was by virtue of the fact that WaystoCap is now amongst World Economic Forum technology pioneers alongside other well known innovators such as Kickstarter, AirBnB and Google.

This year’s annual meeting had the theme “Globalization 4.0” and focused on the challenges that are taking place on the technological, political, economic, and societal levels with ever increasing interconnectivity in the global economy. I found this especially fascinating, in view of the extent to which I experience these changes both on a personal level and in my role at WaystoCap. As a startup involved in introducing technology to SMEs on the emerging African continent, we can see the power of the change that’s taking place.

During the intriguing sessions at the event, I had the honor of learning first-hand from world experts in different fields as well as thought leaders. I particularly found the panel on Building Sustainable Markets captivating. It highlighted the massive potential of opportunities that we could realize through the implementation of SDGs, estimating the value to be at least $12 trillion. Taking note of the challenges that stand in the way of realizing this potential, I tried to think of ways in which we as a startup could become more effective at advancing the SDGs.

Through the enlightening program I gleaned useful insights on the practical implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). From the list of 17 SDGs, two particularly stuck out as they closely relate to what we’re already doing at WaystoCap and also highlight areas in which we further extend and enrich our application.

A Look at UN Sustainable Development Goals 8 & 9

Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth

Promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, which is the essence of Goal 8, requires that we create conditions that allow people to have quality jobs. The global unemployment rate is about 5.7% and approximately half of the world population lives on less than $2 a day. Eradicating poverty requires that we completely overhaul social and economic policies.

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

At the same time, as Goal 9 outlines, investing in the creation of resilient infrastructure, innovation and promotion of sustainable industrialization, is crucial to achieving sustainable development. Such investments would cover aspects like transport, energy, irrigation and information technology, and would inevitably promote inclusiveness.

“Globalization 4.0” and Trade

Davos 2019 focused on, among other things, ways to mainstream trade so as to achieve the above SDGs. The theme of the annual meeting was “Globalization 4.0,” a fascinating and broad subject that captures many different strands of change that are unfolding right before our eyes. Technological, political, economic and societal changes are some of the aspects of the global architecture that are triggering an evolution in the global architecture. As a result, the fabric of the world around us is reflecting the effect of these changes and the arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. One of the key points I took home from the discussion was the importance of harnessing the potential of these changes to enhance trade.

What Achieving the SDGs Would Entail

Listening to the program, I felt as though the speakers were reading from the WaystoCap script. At WaystoCap, our stated goal is to unlock African trade. We understand the value of trade as one of the core components of development and growth in economies. As such, we seek to help all manner of businesses in emerging Africa, even the smallest one, hoping to create future employers and success stories on the continent.

Davos recommendations for achieving Goals 8 and 9 of the SDGs are in line with the UN’s approach. With regard to Goal 8, the UN says that sustainable economic growth is dependent on creating job opportunities and providing decent working conditions. It also highlights the need for increased access to financial services and increased commitments to trade, agriculture and banking infrastructure. This would raise productivity levels and cut down unemployment rates.

Goal 9 emphasizes the need for technology and innovation in facilitating industrialization which is crucial to fostering development. As such, it recommends investing more in high-tech products that increase efficiency and focus on increasing connections between people.

Below are some of the top approaches I picked from the annual meeting that could facilitate the realization of SDGs.

Mainstreaming Trade

Because trade is closely linked to economic development, its role in sustainable development cannot be overstated. In harmony with the above recommendations, “Mainstreaming Trade to Achieve SDGs” by WTO talks about the need for pro-growth and pro-development trade reforms. These would foster stable and fair trading relations globally. Among other things, the publication recommended:

• Building supply-side capacity and trade-related infrastructure in developing and least developed countries

• Focusing on export diversification and value addition

• Making e-commerce a force for inclusion

• Supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME’s) to participate in international trade

Trade and Sustainable Development

Trade is, in fact, one of the most important tools to realizing sustainable economic development. A common thread at the annual meeting was one urging African countries to use trade policy to enhance their population’s access to important products.

Interestingly, most economists’ arguments that discuss the role of trade in development focus on the income aspect. When trading policies are open, they promote specialization by virtue of comparative advantage. In turn, this spurs economic productivity and increased gains which translate to higher income levels. Countries with high income levels are then equipped to focus more on other matters such as education and health.

It is noteworthy too that trade has an impact on other aspects of development as well. In effect, good trade policy which seeks to support efficient resource allocation can be equated to good development policy. For African countries to achieve the SDGs, it would be important to explore such alternative approaches in the trade and development nexus.

Striking a Balance between Importing and Exporting

Additionally, policymakers who mostly focus on the value of exporting would do well to consider the value of importing too. Nothing could be further from the truth than the general view that economic growth entails turning imports into exports.

More often than not, large exporting firms also happen to be large importers. Similarly, robust economies have almost equivalent volumes of both. In fact, the two are inextricably linked with volumes exhibiting directly proportional relationships. For sustainable economic development, countries have to strike a balance between the two to optimize gains.

Trade Policy Reforms

Another important consideration in the realization of SDGs, especially for policymakers in Africa, has to do with tariff barriers. While these are mostly enacted as a response to prevalent issues, they tend to restrict access to products that are sometimes vital such as food and drugs. Reforms in such policies are long overdue. Admittedly, African countries have taken great strides in liberalizing import regimes in the recent past. But by paying closer attention to trade policy, particularly with regard to non-income effects, they can leverage trade better for development purposes.

The Role of SMEs

Emphasizing the value of smaller businesses in sustainable development, one of the speakers at Davos, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, the CEO of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency, said:

“We should think about the private sector, including small and medium-sized firms, where innovation is taking place.”

Mukhisa Kituyi, the UNCTAD secretary general, on the other hand, highlighted the role of e-commerce in inclusiveness saying:

“E-commerce is a train that has left the station and is quickly gathering speed. The challenge is to get as many people aboard this train as possible so that e-commerce can usefully contribute to inclusive growth.”

Online commerce has the potential to connect untapped markets through internet platforms, letting entrepreneurs and small businesses reach customers and trade on global and regional value chains. However, there is a huge gap between countries and firms that can exploit these opportunities and those that cannot.

How WaystoCap is Working Toward the Goals

Africa holds great potential, as Brahima Coulibaly, the director of Brookings’ Africa Growth Initiative wrote:

“About half of the world’s fastest-growing economies will be located on the continent, with 20 economies expanding at an average rate of 5% or higher over the next five years, faster than the 3.6% rate for the global economy.”

From the annual meeting, some of the goals that I considered as most relevant to WaystoCap with regards to Africa included:

·        Poverty Alleviation

·        Quality Education

·        Gender Equality

·        Reduced Inequalities

·        Promoting Innovation and Infrastructure

There are a number of initiatives we are undertaking as part of our contribution to our attainment of the SDGs, which present viable solutions to these challenges. Each of the three key points discussed below addresses two or more of the points highlighted above, which are extremely crucial to sustainable development.

1. Using e-Commerce as a force for inclusion at WaystoCap

WaystoCap is an online marketplace that seeks to connect the African continent to the rest of the world. There is plenty of untapped potential on this continent of contrasts, which presents a vast economic opportunity. However, due to the infrastructural gap between this emerging market and the rest of the world, harnessing the opportunity comes with challenges.

Our mission is to bridge these infrastructure gaps and facilitate seamless trading. We seek to equip small businesses with the tools and support they need to overcome market challenges. One of the key barriers that SMEs have to contend with on the continent is high entry barrier financial services which lock them out of international trade. By giving them the opportunity to access services on the same level as big corporations, we eliminate such obstacles and offer them fair trading grounds, reducing inequalities.

As Dr. Mayaki mentioned, that is where innovation is taking place, so empowering them means promoting innovation and driving economic growth, which in turn reduces poverty.

2. Using digital solutions to engender trust on the continent

We have created a wide range of digital solutions that replace the human element without removing the human touch. To make this work, we identify human roles that can be automated, and which are frequently associated with delays and errors. By creating tools that can replace human beings, we digitize processes with easy-to-use mobile solutions.

However, because we realize the importance of the human touch, we retain an on-the-ground team to offer general support, last mile delivery and payment services. Trust is extremely important in trade and its role in our balanced digital approach sets the stage for a sustainable business model.

Our platform has a list of verified suppliers globally and uses advanced algorithms for automatching based on price and terms of trade. It also handles the payment process. Furthermore, we work with top shipping companies to facilitate a seamless cargo delivery experience. Since all of our innovative processes are digitized and built on a foundation of trust, they make trading easy and hassle-free. Users get to access all features of the fully transparent service through the comprehensive dashboard.

By virtue of the use of a tech power marketplace that enhances trust, we have been able to create and enhance trade-related infrastructure in this developing continent. We have also helped businesses to train their focus on export/import diversification and value addition.

3. WaystoCap Fellowship

Access to education is crucial to the attainment of the SDGs. With this in mind, we launched the WaystoCap Fellowship program. The essence of the program is to create a center of excellence within the WaystoCap ecosystem. We noticed that a high number of ambitious young people on the continent were often ill-equipped for the job market when they completed their studies. Our desire is to help such young ones get skills and real-world experience. Consequently, we not only share our knowledge with them but also give them useful, practical skills for professional development and help them start their careers.

We started out with a pilot project in Casablanca, Morocco in 2018 which was a big success. Our 2019 expansion project is starting in Benin and in the future we plan to launch the initiative in Burkina Faso, Togo and other countries with WaystoCap offices. Under the project, Fellows choose one of the three streams within WaystoCap: technology, marketing or trading.

This initiative helps to prepare participants for their future careers and is a great way for us to achieve our goal of unlocking African trade. One of the top impacts of our Fellowship program is helping graduates get decent work. In fact, we attract some of the recent graduates to join us and kickstart their careers.

By preparing young people for employment, we help them improve their economic position, which inevitably leads to economic growth.

Working towards the Realization of SDGs in Africa, One Goal at a Time

These are just some of the initiatives we are implementing at WaystoCap in support of the UN SDGs. We make numerous other contributions in matters that appear on the draft SDGs. We have already made significant progress in advancing the goals with regard to capacity development, employment creation and investing in research and technology.

I find the endeavor we are undertaking extremely exciting and I especially appreciated the opportunity to gain further insight on these issues at the forum. Through various parts of the program, we gathered numerous ideas to help us at Waystocap to extend our efforts even further and achieve so much more than we already have. Through the opportunity we had to interact with key thought leaders, decision makers and policy makers from all over the globe, we gleaned remarkable insights that will inform our future planning.

Our efforts may be small in relation to the scope of what we are addressing, but we still want to get started on the right footing. Small steps in the right direction will mean that as we scale, we will be able to impact the development of the continent as a whole.