A practical AfCFTA guide for African SMEs preparing to enter international markets.

Most African SMEs do not fail to export because they lack a valuable product.

They fail because they do not have a clear sequence.

This guide was created to help product-based businesses understand the practical pathway from:

Product → Export Readiness → Market Access → International Trade

You don’t need to figure out the entire export process at once. You need to know where your business stands, what is missing, and what needs to happen next.

WHAT YOU’LL GET INSIDE

This is not a motivational ebook.

A practical working roadmap with tools and frameworks to help you assess your readiness, identify gaps, prepare, and move forward.

✓ 21-Question Export Readiness Assessment

Identify where your business stands — and what may be preventing you from being ready to export.

✓ Stage-by-Stage Action Triggers

Know what to focus on next instead of trying to figure everything out at once.

✓ Export Readiness Checklists

Work through the key areas of export preparation systematically.

✓ Documentation Framework

Understand the documentation you need to start preparing before you approach international buyers.

✓ Export Working Glossary

Understand essential export and trade terms and how they work in practice.

✓ Market Preparation Framework

Begin preparing your product and business for the realities of a target market.

✓ Buyer Preparation Guidance

Understand what you should have in place before approaching international buyers.

WHY THIS GUIDE?

Export information is scattered across regulations, standards, trade platforms, logistics resources, and other sources.

The challenge isn’t simply finding information.

It’s knowing what comes first, what comes next, what to check, and what needs to be addressed.

This roadmap brings those pieces into one structured, practical sequence you can work through.

The goal isn’t to inspire you to export.

It’s to help you understand what must happen before the first transaction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Uche Austen is an AfCFTA Certified Trade Advisor, trained through the University of Nairobi, and a trained facilitator on the AfCFTA Non-Tariff Barriers Reporting Mechanism.

Through her work engaging with African SMEs and trade systems, she has seen how fragmented trade information and requirements can make export preparation difficult to navigate.

She created this roadmap to bring that complexity into a clear, practical sequence — helping African SMEs understand what they need to assess, prepare, and address before pursuing export opportunities, evaluating target markets, and approaching international buyers.

Created by Trade Pathways Africa — building practical trade intelligence and advisory solutions for African businesses navigating export readiness, market access, and international trade.

⭐️WHAT LEADERS ARE SAYING

“ Uche Austen has done what AfCFTA policy alone cannot: she has translated continental trade ambition into a language African SMEs can act on.”

— Hon. Chibuzor Okafor

Pioneer CEO, Enugu State Investment Development Authority (ESIDA)

Former State Reform Champion & Focal Person, Enugu State Ease of Doing Business Council

IS THIS FOR YOU?

This roadmap is for African SMEs that:

✓ Are considering exporting or entering international markets

✓ Want to assess their export readiness

✓ Need clarity on preparation and documentation

✓ Want to understand what to address before approaching buyers

✓ Are tired of scattered export information and want a structured starting point

✓ Want to avoid costly mistakes caused by inadequate export preparation

THE EXPORT READINESS ROADMAP

₦35,000

Get the practical framework for understanding what your business needs before entering international trade.