FII Institute Prepares to Combat Counterfeit and Illicit Trade in Africa

The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute – which describes itself as ‘a new generation of global not-for-profit foundation that ensures the world's brightest ideas find their way to materialise, scale and create positive sustainable impact on humanity’ – has entered into an agreement to combat counterfeit and illicit trade in Africa.

Addressing a press conference in January, at the annual FII forum – which is hosted by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia – Richard Attias, CEO of the institute, announced that a letter of intent had been signed between the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Swiss tech company OriginAll and the FII Institute, to develop technology aimed at protecting 54 African nations against counterfeit and illicitly traded products.

AfCFTA is a free trade area founded in 2018, with trade commencing as of 1 January 2021. It was created by an agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations and is the largest free trade area in the world in terms of the number of participating countries. The agreement initially requires members to remove tariffs from 90% of goods, allowing free access to commodities, goods and services across the continent.