A joint delegation from TradeMark Africa (TMA), Mastercard Foundation, and the International Trade Centre (ITC) recently visited a young woman-led horticultural export business in Rwamagana, Rwanda. This visit underscored their collective commitment to helping Rwandan youth and women-led horticultural enterprises achieve significant success in export markets. The delegation gained valuable insights into ongoing interventions and their emerging impact, all designed to enhance value addition, improve market access, and create meaningful employment opportunities for young people, particularly young women, within Rwanda's expanding horticultural sector. The host for this visit was RAI Green Stalks Ltd, an enterprise participating in the Value-added Initiative to Boost Employment (VIBE). VIBE is a collaborative effort between TMA and ITC, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation. RAI Green Stalks Ltd is a key exporter of fresh produce, including chillies, avocados, French beans, plantains, and passion fruits, to international destinations like the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United Arab Emirates. Allen Umulisa, founder and CEO of RAI Green Stalks Ltd, noted that the increasing demand for her company's products has outpaced its internal production capacity. To address this, the enterprise collaborates with youth-owned cooperatives and aggregates supply, enabling it to meet larger export volumes while upholding the stringent quality standards demanded by international buyers. This approach of sourcing products from local cooperatives and smallholder farmers, many of whom are women and young people, generates economic opportunities for these individuals, thereby fostering a positive ripple effect on their livelihoods. The delegation also toured several of the enterprise's operational...

Three Rwandan small and medium-sized fresh produce companies recently showcased their products at the 2025 Fruit Logistica Expo in Berlin, Germany, making strides towards unlocking new opportunities in the export market. The exhibition, held from February 5–7, is one of the world’s largest trade fairs for the fresh produce industry. This year’s gathering brought together an estimated 66,000 visitors and 2,700 exhibitors from 145 countries, offering Kinvest Farms Company, Lotec Rwanda Ltd, and Effective M&N a global platform to promote their products, businesses, and prospect for new customers for their niche horticultural produce. Their participation was part of the five-year Value-added Initiative to Boost Employment (VIBE) programme that is implemented in Rwanda by TradeMark Africa (TMA), the International Trade Centre (ITC), in partnership with Mastercard Foundation. “Occasions such as this expo avail valuable opportunities for Rwanda’s fresh produce exporters to explore new markets, enhance their earning potential, and improve the prospects for other local enterprises to expand into European and global markets. By engaging directly with international stakeholders, these firms gained critical insights into market dynamics and established connections with potential buyers and strategic partners,” said Doreca Musenga, VIBE Programme at TradeMark Africa. The three companies, who are part of the many VIBE programme participants, collectively produce and export a variety of fresh produce, including French beans, passion fruits, chilies, snow peas, bird’s eye chilies, bananas, green chilies, habanero, and avocados. Despite their exponential potential, these firms, like many other micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), face several challenges in...

Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition, and Consumer Protection Authority (RICA), in partnership with TradeMark Africa and the International Trade Centre (ITC), has concluded a four-day training for horticultural producers under the Value-added Initiative to Boost Employment (VIBE). This marks a significant step toward enhancing the capacity of Rwandan horticultural producers to access global markets. The training, held from November 18–21, 2024, brought together 30 small and medium- sized horticultural enterprises from across the fruit and vegetable value chains, including producers, farmer cooperatives, exporters, and the Rwanda Horticulture Exporters Association.   The training focused on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), with particular emphasis on pesticide use and compliance with Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). Participants gained practical insights into pesticide application, pest management, record-keeping, and the implications of non-compliance with specified standards. Such violations can significantly impact international market access and pose public health risks. To reinforce and sustain best practices, the enterprises will receive an additional month of post-training coaching to ensure alignment with global standards in pest and disease control. These engagements align with VIBE’s overarching goals of enhancing access to lucrative export markets for Rwanda’s horticultural products, reducing rejection rates, increasing sales, and creating decent and fulfilling jobs. The five-year program, implemented in Rwanda by TradeMark Africa and the International Trade Center (ITC) in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, is designed to facilitate the creation of dignified job opportunities, particularly for women, youth, refugees, and persons with disabilities in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) within the horticulture, poultry, meat, and dairy value...

Nairobi, 8 February: The Government of the Netherlands, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a significant boost to global trade development, has announced a $63 million funding to TradeMark Africa, a leading aid-for-trade organisation. This strategic investment will fuel TradeMark Africa's Strategy 3, covering the period till 2030, aimed at driving green, sustainable economic growth, fostering innovative trade practices, and promoting inclusive trade across Africa. This move underscores the Netherlands' commitment to enhancing economic opportunities, job creation and facilitating sustainable trade throughout the continent. Marchel Gerrmann, Ambassador for Business and Development Cooperation at Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “TradeMark Africa will significantly contribute to a more inclusive and prosperous trade landscape for the African continent, benefitting both African and Dutch businesses." The Netherlands’ contribution will be invested in strengthening trade systems so that they benefit local exporters, foster economic growth, and create sustainable livelihoods across diverse sectors. This investment will be instrumental in improving market access for local products at the global level, in addition to bolstering initiatives that drive innovation, research, and development within the African market, enhancing competitiveness and green trading practices. As part of its Africa Strategy, the Netherlands contributes towards the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA is expected to boost intra-African trade over 30% by 2045 and is projected to provide an average extra 2.7% GDP boost across the continent. The AfCFTA could lift 30 million Africans out of poverty by 2035, offering market opportunities to both African...

Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) and TradeMark Africa (TMA)’s decade-long partnership to ensure standards and conformity assessment services are at the heart of fast-tracking trade have yielded tremendous results. Aside from reduced time required to purchase Rwanda’s standards from 5.2 days before 2021 to 4.1 hours after automating RSB’s systems, the interventions positioned 20 agrifood enterprises in the country to comply with ISO 22000 Food Management System (FSMS)/RS 184 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), which are vital requirements for food safety. These certifications have been instrumental in the successful implementation of the Rwanda National Meetings, Incentives, Conferences/Conventions and Events/Exhibitions (MICE) Tourism Strategy. Local consultants, enterprise trainees, 60 youthful graduates and RSB auditors underwent capacity building on FSMS, HACCP and related Pre-requisite Programmes (PRPs). These efforts ensure that Rwanda is complying with international standard requirements for bodies providing management systems certification, thereby enhancing producer firms’ credibility and confidence in their activities, processes, products, services. This in turn ensures competitiveness at the local and international markets. Visitors to Rwanda can now enjoy safe, seamless and world class experiences at the country’s hospitality establishments. Rwanda Development Board (RDB)’s 2022 Annual Report showed that the country’s MICE industry continued an impressive growth streak and generated a total of $64.4 million from hosting 104 events attended by more than 35,000 delegates. For more insights, read the Rwanda Standards Journal with an exclusive focus on the partnership between Rwanda Standards Board and TradeMark Africa in advancing standardisation and conformity assessment in Rwanda. [download id="66923"]

Members of European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, on November 3, 2022, held talks with teams from TradeMark East Africa, Kenya’s Ministry of Trade and regional private sector representatives on investment opportunities, trade relations and barriers. Led by committee chair, Bernd Lange, the team sought to understand key concerns around the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Kenya and the EU and how trading between the two partners can be more mutually beneficial. Mr. Lange also highlighted the need to reflect on a regional perspective in the negotiations with Kenya, which is no longer categorised as a least developed country (LDC) as its East African Community (EAC) counterparts. While the country’s exports still benefit from preferential treatment, Kenyan exporters face stringent requirements on labelling, rules of origin and phytosanitary standards, according to the State Department of Trade. In the last half a decade, Kenya has been a net buyer of commodities from the EU, with imports hitting US$1.9 billion in 2019, less than half of the US$916 million Kenya exported to the EU, according to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). Kenya exports mostly horticultural products. With favourable trade conditions and increased efficiencies in the production and supply chains, Kenya can significantly scale up its share of exports of cut flowers, vegetables, macadamia, avocados, sweet potatoes, pineapples, coffee, and apparel, in response to burgeoning demand in the EU. The delegation also heard of how Kenya and East Africa are positioned to tap into the immense potential of the African Continental Free Trade...

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the globe and disrupted the lives of billions of people in every corner of the world. Eastern Africa has not been left unscathed. The pandemic has affected trade and economic activity in a fundamental way. Whereas many have weighed the impact of COVID-19 on health terms, we in trade facilitation have seen firsthand how debilitating its impact has been to global trade, disrupting supply chains across the globe. This knowledge informed our quick adaptation, and helped to offset major trade disruptions experienced in the Eastern, Southern and Horn of Africa Region. The impact of COVID-19 hit TMA closer home. Cuts to donor funding caused by COVID-19 inflicted economic recession in donor countries necessitated a human resource restructuring process, and scaling down of programming. Nevertheless, TMA was resilient and delivered strong impact. I am honoured to mention a few of the interventions and associated impacts achieved in the last year, as I welcome you to read about many more in this annual report. SAFE TRADE Amongst the quick counter and cushioning measures we implemented were the Safe Trade Emergency Facility Programme (Safe Trade), a multi-donor funded and multi- stakeholder programme that enabled governments and communities to adopt short- to medium-term measures for safe continuity of trade. The innovation driving Safe Trade won an award during the Paris Peace Forum due to its focus on the immediate threat posed by the pandemic, and post- COVID-19 recovery that empowered communities to bounce back better. Recovery efforts have also...

The better part of the last two financial years have been marked by unprecedented global focus on COVID-19, the global pandemic that took the World by surprise. The numerous natural, economic, and intellectual resources that have been spent to contain the spread of the rapidly-mutating enigmatic disease, and to eradicate it, have been worthwhile. In the Eastern Africa region for instance, conditions for external trade and investment have tremendously improved due to enhanced focus on trade as a key ingredient for economic resilience. This, I dare state, is a direct result of joint efforts by TradeMark Africa (TMA), the region’s Governments, donors and other partners, to accelerate innovative approaches to trade in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the start of the 2020/2021 financial year, exports of most East African Community Partner States had surpassed their 2019 levels, whilst imports recovered to pre-pandemic levels, testimony of increased regional resilience. At TMA, we strove to maintain progress and associated developmental gains generated over the years, that could have been easily reversed by the effects of the pandemic. In our commitment to make meaningful and resolute impact through inclusive and sustainable trade in the region, TMA intensified focus on innovation and digital transition, simultaneously with its expansion plan. Innovation and digital transition enabled markets and borders to safely remain open for continued trade, thus speeding up recovery and promoting traders’ resilience. This contrasts with other parts of the Continent whose trade continues to be affected by the pandemic. The Safe Trade...

2021 marked an important watershed moment for global trade, as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic started to subside, and countries began to post stronger economic growth. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global trade touched a high of $28 trillion, 11% growth from pre-pandemic levels. Trade in services is however yet to fully recover. Furthermore, while the global trade growth remained uneven across countries and sectors, it was broader towards the end of the year. Its therefore still early to celebrate yet, even though the future might be promising. The global picture bears similarities with activities in TradeMark East Africa, which has continued to post impressive results in addition to expanding our geographical footprint across Africa, whilst battling COVID-19 induced disruptions. It is for instance gratifying to see many women traders from vulnerable backgrounds being able to maintain their livelihoods due to medically COVID- 19 compliant markets that were constructed during the year to safeguard them and their clients. Similarly, seeing many regional micro, small and medium enterprises reap the benefits of reducing costs of trade due to various interventions such as growing digitisation of trade services by regional Governments, and improved evacuation of cargo along key trade corridors, are heart-warming. Amidst this, TMEA’s approach to trade facilitation continued to be relevant, in high demand, and impactful. Development of physical and digital trade corridors, promotion of inclusive trade, supporting standards harmonisation, and increasing the private sector’s voice in reforming trade policies have enabled many...

2021 marked an important watershed moment for global trade, as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic started to subside, and countries began to post stronger economic growth. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global trade touched a high of $28 trillion, 11% growth from pre-pandemic levels. Trade in services is however yet to fully recover. Furthermore, while the global trade growth remained uneven across countries and sectors, it was broader towards the end of the year. Its therefore still early to celebrate yet, even though the future might be promising. The global picture bears similarities with activities in TradeMark Africa, which has continued to post impressive results in addition to expanding our geographical footprint across Africa, whilst battling COVID-19 induced disruptions. It is for instance gratifying to see many women traders from vulnerable backgrounds being able to maintain their livelihoods due to medically COVID- 19 compliant markets that were constructed during the year to safeguard them and their clients. Similarly, seeing many regional micro, small and medium enterprises reap the benefits of reducing costs of trade due to various interventions such as growing digitisation of trade services by regional Governments, and improved evacuation of cargo along key trade corridors, are heart-warming. Amidst this, TMA’s approach to trade facilitation continued to be relevant, in high demand, and impactful. Development of physical and digital trade corridors, promotion of inclusive trade, supporting standards harmonisation, and increasing the private sector’s voice in reforming trade policies have enabled many nations...