Former Norwegian diplomat Thoralf Stenvold and policy analyst Temitayo Olatunde have explained why it is imperative to bring global trade policy into focus through the lens of its real-world impact on African businesses, entrepreneurs, and communities.
Stenvold and Olatunde said this during a fireside chat conversation titled ‘How fairer trade rules and cross-sector collaboration can unlock capital for African startups’.
The fireside chat conversation was part of Vivacity Development’s Investors Connect event held at Imperial College, London, on Thursday for founders, investors, and key ecosystem stakeholders to examine strategies for improving access to capital, strengthening mentorship structures, and fostering global partnerships.
During the chat, moderated by Olatunde, Stenvold – a member of the Steering Committee of TRaNJA and the founding director of the think tank Progressive Diplomacy – spoke extensively about the challenges facing African businesses, especially as they concern funding and trade policies.
The former Norwegian diplomat also spoke about the global initiative: ‘Trade Not Just Aid: Winners and Losers in the WTO’, also known as TRaNJA, aimed at fostering a constructive narrative around the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and revitalising the multilateral trading system.
Stenvold, however, expressed concern about the effectiveness of the TRaNJA initiative on African businesses and markets, adding that African entrepreneurs need support and funding to scale their businesses and transform their natural and raw materials into quality products, instead of exporting them to be processed and imported back, thereby losing value and money in the process.
United Kingdom-based Nigerian and executive director of Temvert Empowerment Foundation, Temitayo Olatunde, stated that moderating the chat provided an important platform to examine how fairer trade rules and cross-sector collaboration can shape Africa’s economic opportunities.
He further stated that the conversation reinforced the importance of ensuring that policies developed in global spaces remain connected to the realities of the people they ultimately affect and also the need for young entrepreneurs to be supported in accessing capital to scale their businesses.
‘One perspective I have developed through my work is that foreign aid, while important in times of crisis, cannot be the lasting solution to Africa’s development challenges.
‘The real impact of conversations like this is their ability to connect global policy with grassroots realities and help create pathways for African people and enterprises to build sustainable prosperity,’ he added.
The Temvert Empowerment Foundation’s boss emphasised that sustainable progress requires economic systems that expand access to trade, investment, markets and opportunity.
Thoralf Stenvold served as a diplomat for Norway to China, India, the WTO, the United Nations in Geneva and New York. Olatunde said he was honoured to have the conversation with the diplomat and had learned a lot from their chat.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of Vivacity Development, Oluwakemi Ann-Melody Areola, described Vivacity as a social enterprise focused on sustainable development and youth empowerment.
Areola noted that the London Investors Connect event will be followed by a dialogue at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week at Cornell University, New York City, on 24 September.
According to Areola, the London and New York tours mark a strategic pivot for Vivacity Development, moving from a legacy of global advocacy to an aggressive, large-scale training and talent-cultivation programme designed to prepare Nigerian youths and entrepreneurs for the multifaceted global economy of 2030.