More than 70 entrepreneurs and policymakers met International Trade Centre (ITC) Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton on 14 June for a conversation on digital trade, e-commerce and inclusive growth.
The dialogue brought together small businesses from the African Digital Innovation Accelerator with government officials and business support organisations, all in China for training delivered by the Academy for International Business Officials under China’s Ministry of Commerce.
Trading experiences, not presentations
Rather than a formal briefing, the session let participants speak directly with ITC’s leadership. Entrepreneurs described building export businesses through digital platforms; policymakers shared national strategies for e-commerce. Several praised the training’s exposure visits to Chinese digital companies and matchmaking with buyers, crediting ITC initiatives such as the African Digital Innovation Accelerator with strengthening their online presence and market access.
Regional trade still holds the biggest potential
Coke-Hamilton told participants that while China offers real opportunities, regional and intra-African trade remains largely untapped. She pointed to stronger value chains, aligned standards and access to finance as priorities, alongside ITC’s SheTrades initiative for women entrepreneurs, and urged small businesses to make full use of China’s zero-tariff policy for least developed countries.
A seat at the table on digital trade rules
Participants also raised the WTO’s e-commerce negotiations. Coke-Hamilton put it plainly: ‘It is better to be in the tent than outside it.’ It was the same message she carried through her China visit that week – from her address at Peking University on South-South cooperation, to her remarks at the Qingdao Multinationals Summit, and in her own reflection on the trip, ‘Be in the tent, bring the paint’.
The dialogue was part of ITC’s long-running work with China’s Ministry of Commerce and the China International Development Cooperation Agency, which trains policymakers and entrepreneurs from developing countries to navigate the digital economy.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Trade Centre.
