Commonwealth Trade, Digital Trade and Change in Africa

This report discusses the impact of COVID-19 on Commonwealth countries’ global and intra-Commonwealth goods and services exports, and the prospects for trade recovery. It also explores the significance of digital trade, its main trends, challenges, and opportunities in the Commonwealth, including the effects of COVID-19. Additionally, it evaluates the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), its real significance, the current state of play, and how transformative and inclusive it can be, especially for women.

Critical issues in
Business management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK-1............................................................................................................................................3
Create a Padlet in response to the following tasks: ....................................................................3
Task-2..............................................................................................................................................6
Write a report titled ‘Commonwealth trade, digital trade and change in Africa’ in response to
the following tasks:.....................................................................................................................6
b. There has been much comment on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
However, what is its real significance, the current state of play and how transformative and
inclusive can it be, especially for women?..................................................................................7
Task-3 .............................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Business management is related to those management of the organisation under which the
managers perform the activities of planning, organising, staffing and controlling the employees
of the company to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation effectively and efficiently.
There are some problems and difficulties which can be arise in the organisation due to the
mismanagement and external environment. It is the duty of the managers of organisation to
evaluate the external environment effectively and develop a measures to deal with them. One of
the major factor which impacted the business organisation in negative way is covid-19 (Nyoni
and Bonga, 2018). It enables the economies of the world to show negative. The negative impact
of this growth is that the business model of many organisations destroy and their survival
becomes impossible. This report is based on the condition of common wealth countries due to
the covid-19. This report provide brief discussion related to the impact of pandemic on the trade
between these common wealth countries and the different sources of future growth present with
them. It states the discusioon related to the importance of digital trade and the the trend and
opportunities present in the market. It provided personal reflection in relation to the
conversation between me and prime minister of United kingdom Sir Boris Johnson.
TASK-1
Create a Padlet in response to the following tasks:
a. What is the impact of COVID-19 on Commonwealth countries’ global and intra
Commonwealth goods and services exports, and what are the prospects for trade recovery?
One of the most important blunder which impact the business organisation of the world is
Covid-19 because it collapses the business model of many company and also destroy the
commercial cycle of many countries (Huang and Bao, 2021). The covid-19 has great impact on
the business trade of commonwealth countries and the brief discussion related to these are given
below:
Negative growth of the economy
The biggest negative impact of the covid-19 on the business trade between common
wealth countries is the negative growth of their economies. The economies of the countries are
highly depend upon their business organisations because it provided them tax revenue and many

opportunities for the growth of the nation. The business organisations are not limited with the
tax revenue but it also makes their role in employment and development activities which has
great impact on the economy of the country. The government of the respected countries declare
the lock down in their countries and not the single business organisations are allowed to work
from their offices and the wheel of the economy becomes stops and the economy becomes
negatively impacted.
Increases import and export duties
The impact of the covid-19 has great negative role on the government revenue and
because all the sources of income becomes ineffective due to lock down. All the businesses stops
their processes which the government has to incurred huge loss in term of tax. The another
source of income is the revenue from the international trade and the expenses of the government
increases due to the happening of pandemic. The government of the respected countries try to
overcome these situation and increases the duties on the import and export so that the losses
incurred due to these issue can be break even (Dörrenbächer and Gammelgaard, 2019). The
increase in the duty has decreases the level of international trade. It negatively impacts the profit
margins of the organisation which demotivated them to import and export of the goods and
services from one country to another country. The businessman prefer to sell their products in
their local markets so that the
Increases inflation
It is one of the greatest impact of covid on the business activities and also on the economies of
many countries. The main reason behind the inflation in goods and services is the decrement in
international trade and Increases the rates of raw material.
B Identify and evaluate the sources of future growth including from the Commonwealth
advantage.
Common wealth refers to a voluntary association of 54 countries where different
developed and developing countries are included in order to gain common goals or objectives in
effective manner. These goals are refers to the sustainable development in these countries along
with raise trades within these countries effectively. In order to improve growth in between these
countries, they take particular measures for improving their future growth in efficient and
relevant manner. Sources that help them in their future growth are described below:

Increase in demand of healthy products- Demand of healthy products are increasing
day by day in between countries because people are more concerning about their health. People
are becoming health conscious because of disease caused due to spreading virus in all over the
world. People are demanding those products which is healthier and increase their immunity in
order to defeat disease effectively. It makes companies use healthy products in order to increase
their sales and fulfil customers demand in effective manner. It helps common wealth countries in
order to improve their future growth in effective manner.
E-commerce- It means the process of selling and buying products through online
sources with the help of internet in all over the world. In today's world, people are using different
online sources in order to purchase their products from all over the world. There are many
companies such as Flip-kart, Amazon and so on, which use to sell their products through online
in order to attract more and more customers from all over the world. At the time of pandemic,
these companies are earned higher revenue because people are not allowed to purchase products
from physical market so, they use online websites of these companies in order to purchase
products in safe manner. It creates opportunities for commonwealth countries in order to improve
their future growth in effective manner.

Accelerating technological advancement- Technology are developing day by day so, it
is important for the companies in order to improve their methods of doing business by adapting
new and advanced technology for performing various functions in the business. This will help
them in order to higher revenue and improve growth in effective manner (Cooke, 2021). New
technologies are improving transport, designing and other factors which help companies perform
their functions in effective manner and produced new products in order to attract more and more
customers. It also helps them in order to produce their products in effective manner by optimum
utilisation of resources and by reducing cost and time as well. These technology are more
advanced so, it will also help environment by decreasing pollution in between countries. This
makes all companies of commonwealth countries to adapt new and advanced technology for
their production process. It help commonwealth countries to improve its future growth in
effective manner. It is important for the companies to get update from continuous developing
technologies.
Task-2
Write a report titled ‘Commonwealth trade, digital trade and change in Africa’ in response to the
following tasks:
a. Why is digital trade now more important than ever? What are its main trends,
challenges and opportunities in the Commonwealth including the effects of COVID-19?
It refers to those trade which is held between the nations or the business organisations
under which different online methods and technology are used to perform the business
operations. It is one of the important aspect which is essential for the commonwealth nations to
overcome the threats of covid and other natural disasters. It is compulsory for the business
organisations to make heavy investment in acquiring the modern technology so that their
business processes can be made digital and their advantage can be taken by the nation as well as
the business organisation. The digital trade has significant in the development of nation due to
their importance which are given below:
Reduces transaction cost
The transaction cost is one of those cost which negatively impact the profit margins of the
business organisations. Many organisation does not perform the international due to the high

transactional cost because sometimes it gives huge loss to the company. The digital trade plays
an important role in this aspect it minimises the transaction cost of the organisation and also
many other cost. The investment made in starting international trade is very high but it is one
time investment and the company enjoys their returns for a long turn.
Increases efficiency of invention
invention is related to the development of new things with the helps of deep research and
analyses. Today the taste and preference of the customer becomes dynamic and they demand
new and innovative product regularly (Brondoni, 2018). The digital trade enables the
organisation to use modern and advanced technology in their organisation which in result the
employees has sufficient resources for the development of new product and fulfil the needs of
their customers. It is the duty of the managers of the organisation to provide considerable support
and resources so that the efficiency of invention can be increased.
Increases innovation
Innovation is related to those aspect under which the organisation introduced their existing
product range in the market with new features which fulfils the dynamic needs of their
customers. It is very important for the organisation to evaluate the needs of the customers
effectively because in present scenario there is a cut throat competition in the market and the
customers demand new and innovative product regularly. The use of digital trade enables the
organisation to evaluate the need and preference of the customers and also enables the company
to develop the product according to the needs of the customers.
Main trend and opportunities developed in commonwealth countries due to covid-19
The trends and opportunities are fully changed due to the covid-19 because it completely
changes the needs and preference of the customers in the market place. It is very important for
the business organisations of common wealth countries to analyse these needs and develops
opportunity for them. The brief discussion related to the trend and opportunities developed in
common wealth countries are given below:
Preference towards healthy food products
The taste and preference of the customers are shifted towards the consumption of healthy food
products. The main reason for the shift in this preference is the spread of many diseases due to
covid-19. All the customers in the market ignored to consumed to unhealthy food and also the

junk food. It is the duty of business organisation which perform their business in restaurant and
packaged food industry to add the healthy food in the menu and grab this opportunity (Berry and
Berry, 2018). Customers prefer those packaged food which increases promotes their health and
boost their immunity.
Trend towards work from home
It is one of the most attractive aspect which many business used in their operation. Under
this concept the employees of the organisation has perform their duty while sitting their home.
This happen due to the guideline of government under which they prefer to maintain minimum
employees in office to protect the public from the covid. It is very difficult for the business
organisation to manage the employees working from their home but it is the demand of time.
b. There has been much comment on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
However, what is its real significance, the current state of play and how transformative and
inclusive can it be, especially for women?
Africa is one of those country which are grouped under the section of underdeveloped
organisations where the level of trade is not p to the mark and also does not have more business
opportunities. The need of the country is the creation of business organisation which produces
employment and played a major role in development of nation. In the present world where most
of the countries trying to conduct their business in international countries to take competitive
advantage in their business. The natural resources of the country are fully charged and it is
beneficial for the business organisations because they get the raw material for production easily.
One of the greatest advantage greatest advantage of conducting business operations in Africa is
that the wages of labour is very low in the country. Due to high unemployment and less job
opportunities in the country, the labour class can work in low wage rates so that their essential
needs can be satisfied. The rate of wages is one of the dominating factor of the cost of production
because it impact the profit margins of the business organisations. It is an opportunity for the
businesses to conduct their production processes in country and enjoys low wages rates. This
enables the organisation to increases their profit margins.
Covid-19 is one of the most dangerous factor which impact the business organisations negatively
and decreases the opportunities from the market. The market of Africa are also affected by this
disease many businesses collapses due to the covid (Allen, 2020). The economy of the country
suffers from the strict slowdown and express negative which is also a negative indicator for the

business. Due to resources and labour rates of Africa, the group of G-7 countries wants to enter
in Africa and conduct trade with the country. These countries also brings many business
organisations with them which set up their business units in different parts of the country. It is
the duty of the authorities to develop effective relationship with these countries so that the
country can take the advantage from their effective business returns. The entry of business
organisations played an important role in the development of Africa in many aspects which are
given below:
Increases investment :-One of the significant factor which arises due to the entry of business
organisations in Africa is that the level of investment in the country are increases because the
presence of business organisations and natural resources of the country attracts different types of
investors towards the country. The level of investment plays an important role in the
development of nation.
Decreases unemployment :- The rate of employment is very less in the country which impact
negative on the economy because employment is the important variable for any economy. The
entry of business organisations in the country plays an important role in the development of
employment opportunities in the country.
It is very important for the country to focus on the issue of women empowerment so the
condition of women in the society can be improved (Akhtar and Sushil, 2018). This concept is
related to the upliftment the level of women in the society and it is possible only by the including
them in the management of organisations and also provided them considerable chances to show
their worth. It is the duty of the government to develops different rules and regulation in relation
to the reservation of seats for the women in different public and private business.
When it comes to the development of the nation, taxation is on one side but corporate social
responsibility play important role in this. It is related to those concept under which the business
organisation has to spend specifies percentage of their profit in the development of nations. The
activities which the organisations conduct in their corporate social responsibility.
Task-3
It was life changing and shocking moment for me that I met the prime minister of United
Kingdom and the chairman of common wealth countries Boris Johnson. First I greet prime
minister and introduced in me attractive manner so that start to talk. It is an opportunity for me to
present my views on the condition of commonwealth countries due to the covid. He is gentle

person and not express any attitude to talk with me and the effective conversation are taking
place between us. The brief discussion related to this conversation are given below:
The first thing which I discussed with the respected prime minister is about the impact of covid
on the trade between these countries of common wealth. I share different aspects such as
negative growth of the economy and also the increase in import and export duties in the country.
On told him that the increment in these duties lead the decreases in international trade. The
answer of prime minister is very satisfying for me because he told me about the various
strategies and measures which their government conduct to minimise the impact of covid on the
country. In relation the increase in duties he told me that the impact of covid also on the
government revenue and makes them insufficient to fight with the covid such as health care and
many more sectors.
The second discussion between us is related to sources of future growth present with the
common wealth countries. This time he told me that there are also many opportunities which are
arises in market such as increase the demand of healthy food and also the online shopping. He
told me that many organisations take benefit from this and then suddenly the door open and they
have gone in their programme.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that there are different problems arises in the organisation
and it is the duty of the managers of the organisation to develop different strategies so that these
problem can be solved properly and not impact the business of the organisation (Abdulrasheed,
2021). This report concludes brief discussion related to the impact of pandemic on the trade
between these common wealth countries and the different sources of future growth present with
them. It concludes the discussion related to the importance of digital trade and the the trend and
opportunities present in the market. It concludes personal reflection in relation to the
conversation between me and prime minister of United kingdom Sir Boris Johnson.

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