China’s decision to extend zero-tariff treatment across a wide range of African exports sounds, at first glance, like the sort of breakthrough entrepreneurs are constantly being told to wait for.This is because one of the world’s largest consumer markets has suddenly become easier to reach and the policy barrier sitting in front of that opportunity has, at least partly, been lowered. But for a small business in Accra or Lusaka, the excitement of that headline can fade rather quickly once the commercial journey begins to reveal itself, because a product that sells perfectly well locally still has to make economic sense when a very different route to the customer is introduced.The distance between access and ability is likely to become one of the more important small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) questions facing Africa over the next few years as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) broadens the commercial map available to businesses on the continent and new external openings begin to appear alongside it. People tend to speak about exporting as though it is the natural next chapter in the life of a successful business, almost as if growth eventually carries an entrepreneur across the border on its own. The reality is that exporting is a capability accumulated over time and often through mistakes that larger organisations made long enough ago to have forgotten how expensive those lessons once were.For the millions of smaller businesses underpinning the continent’s economy, the first border can therefore become a costly classroom. That is where SME development may need to stretch beyond the familiar work of helping a business survive and grow locally towards something more deliberate: giving entrepreneurs access to the know-how that turns an open market into a market they can actually use. Market access needs export-ready businessOnce that idea is taken seriously, the role of larger institutions starts to look different too. The expertise they have built through years of operating across countries can become economic infrastructure in its own right when it is transferred into businesses that are only beginning that journey.If Africa is serious about turning wider market access into growth, building export capability into SME development has to become an economic imperative. And the institutions that already know how to operate across borders need to take a more deliberate hand in helping smaller businesses learn how to do the same.A case in point is the Absa-DHL collaboration formalised in July 2026 under DHL’s GoTrade initiative, which brings together DHL Express’s logistics and international trade expertise with Absa’s pan-African banking presence, business banking capabilities, digital tools and financial knowledge. The partnership is focused on SME capacity building, trade enablement and financial inclusion, giving entrepreneurs access to practical training, trade advisory, logistics support and relevant financial solutions so they can participate more confidently in regional and international markets.Through the partnership, DHL provides facilitators and trade-lane experts to SMEs within Absa’s network, using the Trade and Grow Beyond Borders curriculum to build practical understanding of international trade. The training covers areas such as e-commerce, logistics, customs, international trade requirements, finance, customer experience and sustainable business practices, with the aim of helping SMEs understand what is required to operate beyond their domestic markets. Absa complements that support through financial literacy, banking relationships and access to appropriate solutions for payments, collections and financing, while Absa International’s corridor knowledge and international connectivity can help businesses better understand opportunities in markets beyond the continent.The collaboration also gives Absa and DHL a framework to develop more tailored banking and logistics solutions for SMEs trading across borders. This includes support for formal traders and businesses adopting greener logistics or more sustainable supply-chain practices. There is already enough activity on the ground to suggest that this can become considerably larger than a training programme. Uganda, one of the earliest markets to implement the programme, has trained more than 1,600 SMEs through the initiative. The programme has generated approximately R160m in identified credit opportunities, with some already converted into booked business across commercial asset finance and related banking solutions. The initiative has also supported broader value chain banking and enterprise development objectives. Ghana’s cohorts subsequently translated into new banking relationships and around $390,000 (approximately R6,3m) in credit facilities. The model has since travelled into Kenya and Botswana, where 50 SMEs formed the first training cohort in June. In Zambia, the partnership has been used to support entrepreneurs through the Inspire Me Conference, with Mozambique and Tanzania next in line for rollout. Building the capacity behind cross-border growthAcross the participating markets, approximately 1,000 SMEs have already been engaged, giving Absa and DHL something increasingly valuable as the partnership expands: a pool of businesses that are beginning to approach exporting with preparation behind them rather than optimism alone.Preparation is the less glamorous half of Africa’s trade story, and probably the one on which the more ambitious promises will stand or fall.There is no shortage of opportunity on the horizon, from AfCFTA to new trade openings beyond the continent, but all of that promise eventually runs into a fairly practical question: are the businesses expected to make use of it ready when the opportunity arrives? Governments have an obvious role in creating the conditions, though they cannot build export capability business by business. That is where partnerships such as Absa and DHL become more interesting in the broader sense. They show how institutions with different strengths can combine them around a practical economic problem and help turn market access into something SMEs are genuinely equipped to use.About the author: Faisal Mkhize is the managing executive for Business Development at Business Banking, Absa Group.This article was sponsored by Absa.