In East Africa, collaboration between public and private sector actors is proving to be a powerful force in shaping inclusive economic development.While traditional Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are often associated with infrastructure financing, a quieter, more transformative form of collaboration is unfolding—one rooted in shared purpose, mutual benefit, and inclusive growth.As governments work to create enabling environments for trade and investment, the private sector brings innovation, agility, and deep market understanding. When these forces are aligned, they unlock opportunities neither could achieve alone. At TradeMark Africa (TMA), public-private collaboration is at the heart of our approach.We work with national and local governments, business associations, women’s groups, and regional institutions to co-create solutions that reduce trade barriers, promote inclusion, and drive sustainability. In Kenya, for instance, our collaboration with players in the horticulture sector resulted in the launch of the Sauti Trade and Market Information online platform.The platform has connected more than 1,000 Kenyan farmers and traders to export markets. It provides some 428 producers and traders with valuable market insights, helping them secure financing, improve their ability to meet market quality standards, and increase incomes.The Tanzania Mercantile Exchange (TMX) online trading platform is a game-changer too. It helps Tanzanian farmers, traders, and exporters access domestic and global markets by ensuring fair commodity prices. The platform allows farmers to make informed decisions based on real-time and forecast price trends. In 2022, TMX expanded its online trading system to include cocoa and coffee. From July 2022 to June 2023, over 1 million kilograms...

At this year’s GTR East Africa 2025 Conference in Nairobi, I participated in a timely panel discussion under the theme “Trade Growth and Infrastructure Investment: East Africa’s Opportunity to Thrive in the New World Order.” The conversation could not have come at a more critical moment. The global economy is in transition. Long-standing trade assumptions are being redefined, and traditional rules of engagement are shifting. In 2023 alone, G20 nations introduced more than 1,160 new trade restrictions (Global Trade Alert, 2023).Climate-linked regulations are reshaping access to international markets. Official development assistance is declining, and multilateral climate finance remains uncertain. Tariff regimes are increasingly fragmented and politicised.These developments demand a fundamental rethinking of how Africa positions itself within the global economic order. For East Africa, this global reset presents not a threat, but a catalytic opportunity to reimagine trade. According to the UN Trade and Development, although the region contributes only two to three percent of global trade, it is disproportionately exposed to global shocks. From tariff changes to adverse climate impacts, East Africa faces significant vulnerabilities.However, these pressures are also prompting the region to pursue more resilient, agile, and self-determined trade systems.Africa must now move decisively. Business as usual is no longer tenable. Digitisation and automation have transformed global trade.Tightening regulations, shifting funding models, and climate imperatives have rendered sustainability and compliance essential. European Union regulations on labour standards, deforestation, and carbon emissions are compelling African producers to meet new thresholds or risk exclusion from essential global markets. These are...

  Group photo of the Djibouti delegation with MAGERWA staff Djibouti’s unique position at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East, and global trade routes has made it a major hub for regional and international trade. As the main gateway for Ethiopia’s trade, the Djibouti-Ethiopia corridor handles about 95 percent of Ethiopia’s imports and exports. Despite its world-class port infrastructure, inefficiencies in trade facilitation, institutional coordination, and transport logistics continue to slow trade, leading to high costs, long transit times, and lost economic opportunities for businesses and traders that rely on the corridor. To address these challenges, Djibouti and Ethiopia are in the process of creating a Corridor Management Authority and a Transport Observatory. The Corridor Management Authority will support coordination of institutions, address trade bottlenecks, and improve the movement of goods. At the same time, the Transport Observatory will collect and analyze real-time trade data, enabling authorities to monitor performance, identify inefficiencies, and implement timely solutions. Together, these initiatives will lower trade costs, shorten transit times, and enhance the competitiveness of businesses operating along the corridor. To build an effective system, Djibouti is learning from successful trade corridor management models in East Africa. A technical team recently visited The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority, the Port of Mombasa, Mariakani Weigh In Motion bridge under Kenya National Highways, Taveta OSBP in Kenya, the Central Corridor Transit and Transport Facilitation Agency and Holili OSBP in Tanzania, and the public bonded warehouse of Rwanda (MAGERWA) Rwanda. The delegation was able...

[vc_row equal_height="yes" content_placement="top"][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]EATTA’s Integrated Tea Trading System (iTTS) which automated the manual trade processes along the tea value chain for traders using the Mombasa Tea Auction has improved efficiency and transparency resulting to reduced costs and time of trading for tea traders, evaluations show. The system is funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through TradeMark Africa. ITTS covers the dispatch of made tea from the factory, receiving of the tea by the Warehouse, cataloguing and offering the tea for sale by the Broker, buying of the tea and paying for it by the buyer and the finally collecting the bought tea from the warehouse. According to a recent evaluation, overall costs incurred by tea traders who are producers, brokers and buyers/exporters has reduced from US$4,533 before iTTS) in 2017 to US$1,889 after iTTS in 2021, a reduction of 58% against a target of 15%.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_video link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mbvhDDa6Ns" align="center"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Specifically, the costs that have been eliminated are transactional and logistical and includes key items such as printing costs, travel time and costs, refreshment etc. Additionally, the tea trade cycle time has reduced by 10 days, from 38 days in 2017 to 28 days in 2021. iTTS has remedied limitations in the old manual set-up, such as the lack of in-depth consolidated auction statistics, and limitation on the scale up of the mandatory physical presence in the auction house of participants in the auction. Members can now access real-time information for the entire tea trade cycle. A member can access post-sale...