In June 2022, John Humphrey was appointed as His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Africa. He has full responsibility for all Department for International Trade (DIT) work in Africa with focus on growing the overall bilateral trade and investment relationship between the UK and Africa, improving market access for British companies, including small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) as well as developing finance and trade policy.
John Humphrey who served as the Group Chief Executive Officer of Kent HoldCo Limited (KHL) prior to joining the Department for International Trade (DIT) is expected to work closely with the wider diplomatic network and other relevant stakeholders to coordinate the UK government effort to promote UK trade and investment across the African continent.
Between 2012 and 2019 he was with the UK Hydrographic Office (Ministry Of Defence Trading Fund) and from 2015, he served as Chief Executive and Accounting Officer. Before that, he was Chief Commercial Officer, Deputy Chief Executive and Interim Chief Commercial Officer.
Earlier in his career, John worked in the technology sector in a variety of commercial, general management and executive roles in the UK and overseas. He is also a Lay Trustee of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy and a Younger Brother of Trinity House.
As part of his drive to generate business opportunities for the UK and contribute to the growth of sustainable, resilient, and productive economies across the African continent, John Humphrey visited Ghana on 26th and 27th April 2023.
During his two day working visit, I had the opportunity to sit with him to discuss a variety of topics including the future of bilateral trade between the UK and Ghana, influence of China and other states, new markets and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
John Humphrey is confident the bilateral trade between Ghana and the UK, which is currently about £2.2billion at the end of 2022, has a huge growth potential which can be achieved through enabling business to happen; supporting trade agreements, elimination of market access barriers, priority of government, regulations and connecting people through trade promotions and missions.
On AfCFTA, the Trade Commissioner for Africa said: “the UK is a big supporter of the AfCFTA and realising the very low level of intra-African trade, the AfCFTA is a refreshing initiative to eliminate the challenges associated with African states doing business with one another. We are fully in support of AfCFTA to help build supply chains and value across the continent and be able to export to the UK. In addition, for the record, we were the first non-African country to sign a memorandum of understanding with AfCFTA and our Trade Policy team in Ghana is working closely with AfCFTA.”
China is aiming to increase African imports to US$300 billion by 2025 and has introduced a new policy including over 8,800 commodities and enabling dozens of African nations to begin exporting some goods duty free.
Responding to the influence of China and other states, John Humphrey spoke about the need for Africans to still look to the UK. “In sales, there is an old adage that says spend less time worrying about your competition and rather more time about your own offer, how you are positioned in the marketplace. From my perspective, I want the UK to be a trusted partner, somebody you can work with and with high standards in terms of how we want to do things. People feel they can deal with us on a fair basis and with mutual respect. Therefore, I am interested in focusing on all the benefits there are to working with us rather than worrying about competition.”
In addition to promoting two way trade and investment, the UK also aims to create jobs and growth in Africa as well as supporting women entrepreneurs according to the Trade Commissioner. He highlighted that as the aim for the UK-African Investment Summit to be hosted by the UK Prime Minister in London on April 23-24, 2024.
“The Summit will bring together Heads of State and Government from twenty four African countries with British and African business leaders. It will strengthen UK-African partnerships to create jobs and growth, supporting British and African talent in sectors such as finance and technology, and promote women entrepreneurs. By facilitating business-to-business links, trade opportunities and investment, the summit will help harness this potential for the creation of mutual prosperity, economic growth, jobs and a global transition to green energy,” he added.
In his final words, John Humphrey mentioned that following his conversations with government agencies and key sector and industry players, he is convinced that the future of the bilateral trade between the UK and Ghana is very bright with enormous opportunities for growth as both countries are making the necessary effort to enable trade and business.
