The East African Business Council (EABC) has convened trade and policy experts from the EAC Partner States virtually, to map out a joint regional policy advocacy agenda geared to increase intra-EAC trade by 30%. The meeting was done in partnership with the Federation of German Industries (BDI). “The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled EABC to refocus and repurpose policy advocacy initiatives towards economic resilience and rebound including stimulus packages to support business continuity,” said Dr. Peter Mutuku Mathuki, EABC CEO in his opening remarks. Total EAC exports decreased by 4.7% percent to Ksh. 1.53 trillion ($14.0 billion) in 2018 from Ksh. 1.61 trillion($14.7 billion) in 2017 of which, intra-EAC exports accounted for 22.4%. “Speaking in one voice as the business community reinforces our advocacy efforts towards mitigating the impact of the pandemic on businesses and spur intra-EAC trade to 30%,” added Dr. Mathuki. Elimination of persistent Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), implementation of trade dispute settlement mechanism; harmonized product standards and work permit regimes; liberalization of trade in services, free movement of capital, harmonization of domestic taxes in the region are top of the EABC Policy Agenda 2021/22 geared to boost intra-EAC trade and investment in the region. Enhancing collaboration and creating synergies among the East African Business Council, National Apex Business Associations and Chambers of Commerce in the region is important towards informing and harmonizing policy advocacy initiatives that reflect business challenges experienced at the national level. Dr. Mathuki urged the experts to reposition the East African business community to be at...

At the end of December 2020, after intensive negotiations, the approval of a trade deal between the UK and the EU was rushed through the British Parliament. There is, however, still little clarity on what Brexit will mean in practice in the long run. What are the threats and opportunities for international development resulting from the UK-EU agreement? Let’s see what international experts say about that. What are the threats and opportunities for international development resulting from the UK-EU agreement? Adrian Green, Independent expert “The transition is over and Britain is fully out of the European Union. The Brexit agreement references sustainable development, climate change, public goods, but solely as principles underpinning UK-EU relationships on trade and commerce. On aid, the agreement is silent. Are there major risks or opportunities? Whether the UK contribution to EuropAid will revert into UKAid is a moot point just now with the aid budget reducing, but one direct threat is already evident – many UK development-focused NGOs and private sector bodies face an EU-aid freeze out. Looking wider, there may be an opportunity to reshape how the UK ‘does’ aid – leading to greater impact in selected focal areas, as a ‘force for good’. The upcoming UK leadership of the G7 and Glasgow COP could be useful divining rods. Among these, topical in the Brexit environment, are: beefing up British business ethics, stronger illicit finance/tax avoidance rules, offering vastly better trade and invest B2B partnership terms than the EU does for developing nations. Backed...

The Borderless Trade Network, an initiative by Olori-Boye Ajayi, a global trading expert and author of Borderless Trade: A Step by Step Guide to Exporting Your Product has restated commitment to empowering women with Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria. The Borderless Trade Salon series was set up to carter for the business and emotional needs of women in transition and women in business by empowering them with various means and skills that will enable them to disrupt the international market with their potential and any business career they choose. The Borderless Trade journey kicked off on February 8th and 9th with the virtual Women in Business Salon Series where high-profiled speakers – Olori Boye-Ajayi, Kola Awe, Shade Bembatoum- Young, Dorothy Ogbutor and Babajide Sodipo – sensitized women from all across the world in attendance on the trading industry, the AfCFTA establishment protocols, application of the business models to their businesses and all important factors to become a modern-day businesswoman and upscale their businesses to global levels. Speaking with a team of press members at the BTSS press briefing, the host and President of the Borderless Trade Network, Olori Boye-Ajayi shared the importance of bringing more women into the trade industry. “Research has shown us that there is only 1 in 4 women in the export industry and that is the gap we are trying to bridge”, we want women to be at equal competitive levels and we have to help ourselves, she said. Boye-Ajayi stressed that with a teeming...

Kenya has received a $17.5 million (Sh1.9 billion) support from Denmark to help promote East Africa regional trade and combat Covid-19 The funding will be channeled through TradeMark Africa (TMA), which works with governments in the region to reduce trade barriers through automation and setting up of the required infrastructure such as One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs). The Danish funding comes in two financial agreements with $14.5 million (Sh1.5 billion) funding Kenya’s efforts to transition to Green Trade and creating sustainable jobs under the Denmark and Kenya Strategic Framework for 2021 to 2025. The second agreement of $3 million (Sh33million) will support continued response to Covid-19 under TradeMark Africa’s Safe Trade Emergency Facility (Safe Trade) Programme. Under the green trade funding, TMA will partner with government institutions and private sector in adopting sustainable and efficient transport and infrastructure for reduced barriers to trade. It will also focus on improving trading standards, address sanitary and phytosanitary issues, and improving business competitiveness in Kenya. Government agencies are also expected to  partner with TMA on automation of systems to ease key trade processes and reduce use of paper and time taken to trade. The resolve for promoting inclusive economic growth is greater now as it has always been as Covid-19 pandemic has thrust most economies in the region and the world into a recession TMA chairman Erastus Mwencha Denmark’s support to TMA’s Safe Trade, that is being implemented in 10 countries, will enable continuous efforts to provide essential services at the region's key...

Business Membership Organizations (BMOs) in the East African region are adopting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software technologies, in a bid to improve service provision to businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows a two-day training by the East African Business Council (EABC) in partnership with GIZ- Business Scouts for Development and the Federation of German Industries (BDI), on using a CRM software set to improve the capacity of BMOs in processing data and communicating effectively with members of the business community. Speaking during the opening session of the training, EABC CEO Dr. Peter Mathuki urged East African companies to adopt digital business models to improve business resilience and continuity amid the pandemic. Let’s market East Africa as a single investment destination- EABC Pic Let’s market East Africa as a single investment destination- EABC “COVID-19 has brought forth opportunities in e-commerce, which have significantly scaled down the cost of doing business by automating manual office operations and reducing human interaction hence increasing productivity and efficiency,” he said. Dr. Mathuki also noted that the pandemic demands BMOs to be more proactive in giving feedback and analyzing data from members to inform policy advocacy initiatives such as the elimination of COVID-19 related Non-Tariff Barriers, among others. In his remarks, Mr. Hamad Hamad, Executive Director of Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) said, “It is critical for businesses to adopt digital tools to improve efficiency and maximize on returns. EAC Partner States Governments also need to adopt e-government solutions to give value to citizens.”...

Any investor intending to acquire land in Uganda’s industrial parks must have a registered company, an investment license, a comprehensive business plan, solid proof of financing and a sketch map of land utilization, officials of the Uganda Investment Authority have emphasized. Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) Director for Industrial Parks development Hamza Galiwango added that fulfilling the above conditions leads to an investor getting an initial lease of five years extendable to 49 years after completion of physical development. “A performance bond of 12 months is issued to enable the investor’s to take possession of site,” he said during a tour of the Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP) by officials of the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) recently. The Authority does not allow mortgaging without consent, neither does it allow change of shareholders at initial lease term and transfer without UIA consent,” he explained. He pointed out that eighty two industries are fully operational in all the government owned industrial parks around the country. These have created 45,000 jobs for Ugandans. To date, all the land in KIBP has been allocated to 311 prospective investors with 63 investors fully operational while 111 investors are in the construction stage. Currently infrastructure is being developed by the Lagan Dott Namanve Co LTD funded by UKEF to the tune of USD246m. “New technologies have been introduced in the industrial parks such as the Roofings Group rebar plant, QCIL HIV pill, GIS Transformer Company,” Galiwango said adding that the Authority has constructed 17 boreholes and...

After a nearly five-year suspension of direct collaboration between the Burundian government and the European Union, a high-level political dialogue was launched Tuesday with a view to restoring relations with the EU and its member states. The two delegations met in Bujumbura on Tuesday and were led by Ambassador Albert Shingiro, Burundian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Claude Bochu, European Union envoy in Burundi. The resumption of exchanges between the two delegations also saw the participation of Ambassadors of the European Union member states in Burundi. According to a joint statement released by the delegations, the resumption of political dialogue constitutes a shared priority that will benefit the people of Burundi and Europe. The delegations agreed to work together towards restoring relations. ‘’I am delighted with the spirit of openness and mutual trust which characterised the resumption of political dialogue. The exchanges took place in a constructive environment with the ultimate goal being to get concrete results as soon as possible,’’ tweeted Ambassador Shingiro. Both parties recalled that Burundi and the member states drawn from the European Union are historical partners anxious to strengthen their bonds of friendship and cooperation. This comes days after President Evariste Ndayishimiye, held a ceremony with members of the diplomatic community accredited to Bujumbura where he reaffirmed the will of his government to strengthen the bonds of cooperation with friendly countries and partners. In 2016, the EU suspended all direct funding to the Burundian government for failing to meet EU concerns over its human rights...

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Business Council (CBC) has started the validation exercise for the Comesa Digital Integrated Common Payment Policy for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The development follows a public-private dialogue meeting on January 20 in Kigali, Rwanda, which was held in partnership with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB). In a statement made available to Business News yesterday, CBC Digital Financial Inclusion programme manager Jonathan Pinifolo, a Malawians, said this is expected to help in streamlining and transforming predominantly cash-based MSMEs into digitally enabled ones to access and use a wide range of digital financial services (DFS) “The aim is to empower MSMEs with DFS that are available, accessible, affordable and interoperable particularly real-time payments and cross-border retail payments that are transparent and interoperable,” he said. CBC chief executive officer Sandra Uwera is quoted in a statement as having said that affordable Internet, digital platforms and digital skills are critical to unlocking the potential of digital financial innovation of MSMEs across the Comesa region. On his part, TDB president and chief executive officer Admassu Tadesse observed that innovation in financial services is essential for expanding financial inclusion. Malawi, alongside Rwanda, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Mauritius, Ethiopia and Tanzania have been earmarked for a pilot study. Read original article

The government has moved to ease cargo collection for small scale importers in Nairobi. Effective Monday all consolidated cargo imported by sea and transported to Nairobi through the Standard Gauge Railway, will be deconsolidated, cleared, and collected by the owners at the Kenya Railways Corporation (Boma Line) Transit Shed. The gazetted facility will make it easier for over 7,500 small scale traders in Nairobi to conduct business. "All cargo consolidated at the countries of export, will, upon importation into the country be deconsolidated at facilities designated for that purpose," KRA said in a statement. The shed, also known as ‘Boma line’ has been set up as part of government efforts to facilitate and enhance ease of doing business. The small traders will now not pay the USD1000 as container deposits which will subsequently reduce the cost of doing business. The establishment of the ‘Boma Line’ is part of initiatives to bring services closer to taxpayers and facilitate them to conduct their business effectively and efficiently. For instance, going forward traders from far areas such as Nanyuki and Sagana will no longer incur huge transport costs to ferry their goods from ICDN as this shade will be easily accessible. Cargo for the SMEs will be transported from Kilindini Port to ICDN, Embakasi, and later transshipped to the Transit Shed using Metre Gauge Railway (MGR). At the shed, consolidated cargo will be stripped from containers and stored in Customs shed while being arranged according to their nature with marking for easy tracking...

Rwanda has a target to generate $1 billion (Rwf1 trillion) in annual agricultural exports by 2024, which is more than double the current output by the sector. However, the path to achieve this is not as smooth, at least considering the prevailing circumstances Indeed, Rwanda’s agricultural exports amounted to over $419.1 million (about Rwf406 billion) in 2019/2020 down from $465.4 million recorded in 2018/2019, representing a decrease of 10 per cent, according to data from the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). It is to note that the country’s agricultural export earnings had dropped by 9.7 per cent from $515.9 million in 2017/2018 to $465 million in 2018/2019. The reduction in terms of revenues in 2019/2020 was attributed to the disruptions of informal cross border trade due to movement restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was disclosed by NAEB in its June 2020 report containing statistical data comparing the performance in 2019/2020 and that in 2018/2019. As a result of the pandemic, NAEB said, all informal cross border trade were converted into simplified formal trade where only less than 20 per cent of traders managed to combine their goods to be sold in bulk to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – the major regional market for Rwanda’s agricultural produce. However, it said, commodities like tea, oil for cooking and sugar were not affected by Covid-19 as they realised an increase in export revenues of 20.98 per cent; 27.9 per cent and 14.81 per cent respectively. Apart from reduction in volumes of exported...