ICC regional offices in Africa prepare business for Incoterms® 2020

ICC regional offices around the world are organising a series of launch events and training sessions to inform business communities about the latest edition of the Incoterms® rules. Already, ICC regional offices across Africa have started to spread awareness about Incoterms® 2020 to their local business communities.

Morocco

ICC Morocco hosted its first Incoterms® 2020 training event on 16 October in Casablanca. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, Morocco has served as an important gateway for trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas for generations. Due to Morocco’s strategic location, it’s critical that local businesses, traders and freight forwarders are conversant in the latest edition of the Incoterms® rules. As part of ICC Morocco’s inaugural training session, Christoph Martin Radke, the co-chair of the Incoterms® 2020 Drafting Group, provided an explanation on the drafting process of Incoterms® 2020 and responded to questions raised by members of the audience.

Due to the success of this first training session, ICC Morocco has announced additional Incoterms® 2020 training sessions for December 2019, January 2020, and March 2020.

Learn more about Mr Martin Radke’s participation,  by listening to the latest episode of ICC’s podcast on A Day in the Life of the Incoterms Rules.

Senegal

In West Africa, ICC and the Senegalese Shippers Council (COSEC) held a joint Incoterms® 2020 launch event on 24 October in Dakar. Taking place in French with English translations, the event gathered business leaders from Francophone countries in West and Central Africa. The event included representatives from 19 countries in West and Central Africa, as well as regional maritime organisations.

The opening ceremony included a wide variety of distinguished speakers, including Phillip Lalliot, the French Ambassador to Senegal, Macky Sall, Senegal’s Health Minister, and Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye, Senegal’s Minster of Fisheries and Maritime Economy.

During the event, Mr Martin Radtke and Francois Georges, former Secretary General of ICC France, presented the latest edition of the Incoterms® rules. In a message to attendees, Julian Kassum, ICC Director for Memberships and Services said: “We are proud to co-organise the official launch event of Incoterms® 2020 in Senegal aimed at unifying commercial trade between Francophone countries in Africa.”

Ghana

On the other side of West Africa, ICC Ghana will partner with Ecobank Ghana to host its national launch of Incoterms® 2020 on the 28th November in Accra. As the event’s keynote speaker, Kweku Asiamah, Ghana’s Minister of Transport, will discuss the significance of Incoterms® 2020.

In recent years, Ghana’s strategic location along the shores of the Gulf of Guinea has made it a hub for commercial trade and development. The World Bank Group projects that Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP) rate will increase from 6.3% in 2018 to 7.6% in 2019. Given this economic growth, the Incoterms® rules will be critical in establishing clear responsibilities for Ghanaian importers and exporters.

ICC Ghana Secretary General Emmanuel Doni-Kwame said: “The Incoterms® rules are finally here and we are prepared to inform our business community of their importance. It’s vital to ensure that the Incoterms® rules are applied correctly, so that we can make the prospect of trade less daunting for small businesses.”

Register for ICC Ghana’s Incoterms® 2020 launch event in Accra now.

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