Export of goods among East African countries has dropped by more than 30 per cent in the last 10 years as individual countries embark on sustaining their needs. The most affected are consumer products and farm equipment, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industrialisation. This emerged during a validation workshop for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Naivasha. Trade and Industrialisation Chief Administrative Secretary David Osiany said many countries had reduced reliance on each other for some products and services owing to the growth of local industries. He said they had instead focused on local production owing to steady demand, instead of relying on imports. “In the last couple of years, exports around the East African countries have reduced drastically as each country embarks on doing its own production,” he noted. Addressing the Press in Naivasha during the workshop on AfCFTA strategy, Mr Osiany, however, downplayed the drop in exports. The AfCFTA was to boost intra-African trade among the 55 member States. “This workshop aims to review the updated draft strategy by ensuring that it is aligned to the national development goals and objectives,” he said. The Secretary of Trade Bruno Lunyiru said Kenya started developing its national AfCFTA implementation strategy in November 2019, noting that the draft had been subjected to public participation twice. “Under this strategy, trade barriers will be removed and this will come in handy for small-scale traders keen to do business with their partners in other countries,” he said. Read original article

In Summary Out of 55 African countries, only 34 have signed and ratified the deal. But concerns over uptake of goods have emerged as regional exports drop by thirty percent over the last ten years. Kenya stands to benefit immensely from the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The Industrialisation Ministry has moved in to assure small enterprises of markets for their goods in the continental pact. Kenya has embarked on a series of workshops to validate the implementation strategy for AfCFTA which came into force in January 2021. “We don’t want to be left behind…a few countries have started……we want our people to know they are able to trade, no barriers are out there,” Trade National Secretary Bruno Lunyiru said. Speaking in Naivasha, Trade Ministry officials confirmed that Kenya had joined the likes of Ghana and South Africa which have already begun to domestic the free trade agreement. Out of 55 African countries, only 34 have signed and ratified the deal. But concerns over uptake of goods have emerged as regional exports drop by thirty percent over the last ten years. “80% of our business are by Wanjiku, small enterprises…..that is what we are doing here to reach out to them……if you have powdered milk, it is possible to sell it in Egypt….without steep traffic that was there before…it is more friendly,” said David Osiany, CAS in the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade. The impact of COVID-19 is still rife among businesses, but the government reckons...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) flagship entity is providing advisory services and investment support to creative players. According to Africa Investment Forum Senior Director Chinelo Anohu, digital platforms in Africa should scale up to take advantage of the continent’s surging demand for creative content. Anohu was speaking at a virtual meeting with Afreximbank President, Benedict Oramah, and Dean Garfield, Netflix Vice President of Public Policy. The meeting, titled The New Face of African Collaboration, was organized by the Africa Soft Power Project. It was moderated by Omar Ben Yedder, Group Publisher and Managing Director of IC Publications. The dialogue was held against the backdrop of the recent launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). This year is the African Union’s year of arts, culture and heritage. Discussions focused on the role of infrastructure and connectivity in advancing Africa’s creative industries, including film, textiles and design. Oramah, speaking at the virtual meeting said, “Afreximbank set up a Ksh. ($500 million) fund in January 2020 to support Africa’s creative industries. The continent faces a challenge to effectively monetize its creative output. Once it does so, innovation will follow.” Netflix’s Garfield agreed with Anohu, stating that AfCFTA would help address a number of the challenges to boosting Africa’s creative output, including uneven intellectual property protections. Improving fragmented payment systems and inadequate human capacity in creative industries. The Africa Investment Forum was initiated by the African Development Bank and its founding and institutional partners. The Forum works to accelerate the closure of...

The CEO of the East African Business Council (EABC), Dr. Peter Mathuki, has been appointed as the incoming Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC). The appointment was made during the 21st Ordinary virtual Summit of the EAC Heads of State. Dr. Mathuki holds a PhD in Strategic Management and Regional Integration from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. As the CEO of the EABC, he has been instrumental in driving and articulating the Private Sector priorities in EAC decision-making process. Dr. Mathuki has been instrumental in implementing the recovery strategy of the EABC under the vision of a borderless East Africa for increased business and investment. He has led numerous international, continental, and regional high-level public-private dialogues aimed at boosting the growth of intra-EAC trade and investment such as the High-Level East African Business and Investment 2019. His leadership improved recognition of the role of the private sector in the EAC from observer status to partner of the EAC regional integration agenda. He has taken part in continental and international negotiations where he successfully pushed for the formation of the African Business Council. Dr. Mathuki is an expert in regional integration and has served in several regional organizations. He formerly served as a Member of Parliament of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA). While there, he chaired the EALA Committee responsible for good governance and served in the Committee of Communication, Trade and Investment (CTI). He previously served as a Director in charge of International Labour Standards (ILO) at...

Mombasa, 2nd March: A financial agreement worth €10.5 million between the Government of Finland and TradeMark Africa (TMA) was signed this morning, in Mombasa. The Government of Finland, represented by its Ambassador to Kenya H.E. Erik Lundberg, reiterated its commitment to supporting regional trade and the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the East African region. The event was officiated by Kenya’s Ministry of East Africa and Regional Development Principal Secretary Dr. Kevit Desai and witnessed by TMA Board Chair Amb. Erastus Mwencha, TMA CEO Mr. Frank Matsaert and TMA Country Director Mr. Ahmed Farah. Through this new Finnish funding, TMA will scale up support to governments to adopt ICT for Trade systems in key trade agencies that contribute to the successful implementation of National Single Windows. TMA has laid frameworks and forged partnerships to support multimodal transport corridors which not only reduce costs associated with trade, but also reduce the carbon footprint of transport. Lake and rail transport produce much less emission per tonne of cargo moved as compared to road transport. Efforts will go towards supporting digital trade corridors, safe sanitary and phytosanitary trade corridors, bolster trade remedies structures at national, regional and continental levels, investments in standards quality infrastructure centres of excellence, scale up of regional authorised economic operator schemes and authorised supply chains frameworks. This infrastructure will be critical in reducing barriers to trade and supporting smooth implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The new funding will build up on results that have been...

At least 2,000 Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to gain digital skills through the KEPSA E-commerce Booster Program Nairobi, Kenya - 25th February 2021: With funding from the European Union and UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office, the Kenya Private Sector (KEPSA) today launched an Ecommerce Booster Program targeting at least 2000 Micro, Small and Medium sized enterprises (MSMES). The program is being supported by TradeMark Africa, a leading aid for trade regional body in East Africa while the technical support for this program is being provided by Amari Consulting Ltd. The program targets businesses with little or no digital presence for training and on-boarding to e-commerce platforms to ensure MSMEs can increase and diversify their revenue streams during this period of COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause disruptions in the global and regional value chains, it has become clear that e-commerce is an important tool and solution for businesses and consumers. E-commerce can support small businesses in reducing their costs and effectively reaching their customers; it is an economic driver for both domestic growth and international trade thus making economies more competitive. The COVID-19 pandemic has occasioned a spike in business-to-consumer (B2C) online sales and an increase in Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce. The increase in B2C sales is particularly evident in online sales of medical supplies, household essentials and food products. As a result, attention has been drawn to several challenges hindering the full potential of e-commerce across countries. These include price gouging, product safety concerns, deceptive practices,...

The government will continue engaging neighbouring countries, especially DR Congo, under bilateral and regional frameworks to ensure continued flow of cross border trade, especially after the initial Covid-19 induced border closures exempted only big trucks with transit goods. James Tayebwa, a cross-border trade policy specialist at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM), noted this as he explained how challenges facing small or informal cross-border traders during the Covid-19 pandemic are being addressed. A report jointly published Wednesday by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), TradeMark Africa (TMA) and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) called for "urgent policy action from the EAC Partner States", to address the challenges facing informal cross-border traders. The outbreak of Covid-19 early last year came with a number of restrictions, including cross-border movement. During the initial restrictions for only big consignments, Tayebwa said, the government "encouraged the small-scale cross border traders to aggregate their goods under groups mainly transporting the goods across the border by hiring motorized tricycles." The groups, Tayebwa noted, are not only for the big formal cooperatives but even small traders in the same line of business can team up and trade as one unit. Trade between neighbouring countries conducted by vulnerable, small and often unregistered traders who move marchandise between markets close to the border forms a significant part of intra-EAC trade. It contributes income, provides jobs and empowers women in some of the most fragile and impoverished communities on the continent. This is why experts see any threat...

Local and regional exports have recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels following a sharp decline in April 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic according to a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, TradeMark Africa and African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). The report showed that by the end of the third quarter, a majority of East Africa Community countries, exports had surpassed 2019 levels. In Rwanda, exports had grown by 13.6 per cent in comparison to 2019, statistics from the Ministry of Trade and Industry show. The report’s authors noted that recovery of exports was largely driven by non-traditional exports as well as value addition. “Aggregate exports from the region declined to their lowest values in April 2020. However, they started recovering in the ensuing months. In fact, in the third quarter of 2020, most of the EAC Partner States’ exports surpassed their 2019 level,” the report noted. Jonas Munyurangabo, Director General for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said that Rwanda had experienced the same trade with exports growth driven by non-traditional exports, minerals and re-exports. He noted that while previously, exports were driven by tea and coffee, in 2020 exports relied on products such as milling products, vegetables, flowers among others. Munyurangabo noted that among the lessons that were picked from the 2020 pandemic experience is the need to increase attention to intra-regional trade which had proved to be more resilient during the slump. According to the report, Intra-EAC trade exhibited...

Manufactured products remain key in driving Kenya's long-term post-Covid recovery on trade, a report launched yesterday indicates, even as it paints a gloomy picture for commodity exports. Called 'Waving or drowning– impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on East African trade, the report by TradeMark Africa, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and African Economic Research Consortium, notes Kenya recorded strong performance in trade in the last quarter of 2020, buoyed by manufacturing. Increase was mainly noted in industrial supplies (non-food) and capital equipment. This came with a rebound on intra-East African Community trade as Kenya recorded the biggest export volumes on trade with her regional peers. Total volumes shipped from Kenya (exports) to the region were valued at Sh165 billion in quarter three (October-December) 2020, picking up from slow performance of Sh130 billion in the second quarter when the impact of Covid-19 was rife on regional economies. Pre-Covid, the volumes were valued at Sh175 billion (January-March), the report released this week indicates. Heightened dependence on commodity export, such as tea for Kenya, is however worrying, the survey notes, as tea prices remained depressed last year. Uganda, a key trading partner with Kenya, had the second-highest volumes valued at Sh137.4 billion. Exports from Kenya to Uganda are mainly palm oil and its fractions, iron or non-alloy steel, petroleum oils and salt, among other goods. Intra-EAC trade hit a negative 110 in April when countries closed their borders to slow the spread of the virus. It started picking up in May in three countries (Kenya, Uganda and Burundi). UNECA director of Africa (sub-regional office -...

In the latest episode of Connecting Africa, CNN International’s Eleni Giokos explores how data and technology are transforming transport infrastructure across the continent. First up, Giokos visits the Kenya Standard Gauge Railway (S-G-R) to see how it is benefitting the import and export industry. Since it was launched in 2017, the S-G-R has moved more than four million tons of cargo along a vital transportation corridor connecting Naivasha and Nairobi with the Port of Mombasa. Abhishek Sharma, Senior Director of Transport at TradeMark Africa, tells Giokos how the railway has impacted trade at the port, “Our whole transport system has been realigned. For the longest time, very little cargo was moving by rail, up to 95% of the cargo was moving by road. Suddenly, there has been a massive shift where for containerised cargo from Mombasa to Nairobi 60% of the imports are moving by rail. So, it's a whole different way in which things are being done.” In a region with many landlocked countries, logistics costs can add up to 60% on the consumer price of imported basic commodities. Sharma speaks about the positive impact the S-G-R has had on reducing these costs, “Any intervention which reduces the cost of logistics in our region, makes a big difference to what the people in our region can achieve in terms of their health outcomes and educational outcomes, as well as, you know, to be able to save a bit more.” In the future, the S-G-R project is planned to connect...