As the private sector struggles to adjust business models to the growing challenges presented by Covid-19, it has become clear that digital transformation is integral to the survival of industries. Affordable digital transactions are needed more than ever and there is a need to harmonize facilitative policies in all COMESA Member States. Today’s financial inclusion agendas should consider the enablement of SMEs to leverage on retail digital solutions to access affordable, value-added digital financial services that also ensure appropriate safeguards for cross border transactions. Challenges such as access to finance, access to digital e-commerce platforms and strengthening digital supply chains have never been more profound as they are today. It is now a well-established fact that giving low-income households (and particularly women) access to formal financial services can make a critical contribution to reducing poverty and addressing inequality. A wealth of research now proves that access to services such as secure savings, lower-cost remittances, affordable insurance and appropriate forms of credit, contributes to more inclusive growth. This helps foster domestic resource mobilization, increases productive capacity, and reduces household vulnerability. It is against this background that the COMESA Business Council (CBC) in partnership with Eastern and Southern Africa Trade and Development Bank (TDB) hosted a Public Private Dialogue, themed, “Towards the COMESA Digital Integrated Common Payment Policy for Micro Small and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs)” on the 20th of January, in Kigali, Rwanda. The one-day meeting validated a draft digital Common Payment Policy for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). Going...

This follows the signing of a 3-year Memorandum of Understanding between KEPROBA and KenTrade which is expected to deepen trade facilitation in the region with the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on 1st January 2021. According to KEPROBA, the two Agencies will ride on each other’s programs to boost cross-border trade and promote Kenya exports in target markets. Speaking during the signing ceremony, KEPROBA chief executive Dr. Wilfred Marube said the agency from 2019 has been working on digitizing export procedures and transactions with the aim of making it easier for the buyer and seller to meet. Get breaking news on your Mobile as-it-happens. SMS ‘NEWS’ to 20153 Creating synergies with KenTrade, he said, will assist in realizing this since KenTrade has a history of connecting buyers and sellers. “This MOU will address this aspect through the envisioned exporters’ academy which will build the capacity of traders through product development and trade advisories for export ready traders. This will be made possible through the exchange of information between the two agencies,” said Dr. Marube. He reiterated that the agency is seeking to address how they can facilitate normal Kenyan Traders to reach the global market and become exporters. KENTRADE CEO Amos Wangora said a priority to the agency is facilitating how fast exports can get to the global market which will give Kenya a competitive edge. “This will be made possible through simplification of the export process which forms some of the provisions in...

Small businesses in Kenya are set to benefit from a Sh110 billion trade facility to boost their market expansion under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This is ahead of a planned roll out of a payment facility to ease currency convertibility across the continent. AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said they were working with commercial banks across the continent to pool funds which would be guaranteed by governments. “This trade facility will help SMEs overcome the challenge of access to new markets which is not because of lack expertise but capital,” he said. Mr Mene said they are working with Afremixbank to develop a payment facility which is currently being piloted in six African countries. Read More He noted that the 42 currencies in Africa were a constraint to SMEs and they would soon not have to convert into dollars, first to transact. “The payment facility will ensure that if you transact in support of AfCTA, the costs of transactions are reduced in relation to currency convertibility,” he said. He said African SMEs would find new markets for their products at a preferential rate following the operationalisation of the trade deal. "You have a new market for your goods at preferential environment. Before this agreement, if you were a trader from Kenya and want to export to Angola you were competing at the same rate as a European exporter for the same product,” he said. Mene spoke at a Nairobi hotel after a sensitisation forum with the Kenyan private...

Nairobi, 2nd February: During a signing ceremony of twin Financial Agreements worth USD 17.5 million, in Nairobi, The Government of Denmark, represented by its Ambassador to Kenya H.E. Ole Thonke, reiterated its commitment to support green trade and the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the East African region. The funding will be channelled through TradeMark Africa (TMA), a leading Aid for Trade organisation renowned for partnering with Eastern African governments to reduce barriers to trade through automation and adoption of sustainable physical infrastructures such as One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs), ports among others. 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. In the two agreements, USD 14.5 Million will support 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 USD 3 million (Approx. Kes 330,000,000) will support continued response to COVID-19 under TradeMark Africa’s Safe Trade Emergency Facility (Safe Trade) Programme. With the green trade funding (USD 14.5 million), TMA will partner with government institutions and private sector in adopting sustainable and efficient transport and infrastructure for reduced barriers to trade, improving trading standards and sanitary and phytosanitary issues and improving business competitiveness in Kenya. The new funding will build up on results that have been achieved in previous programmes funded by...

Clearly, it is not sufficient to merely articulate the lack of collective agency facing the African continent and its diaspora with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic. We must proffer solutions that address both ‘what’ should be done and ‘how’ it could be accomplished. The Work to be Done on the African Continent Several strategic initiatives can be executed to assert Africa’s agency in the fight against the COVID-19. These efforts require prioritisation, sequencing and a detailed implementation matrix anchored by a monitoring and evaluation framework. An inexhaustive list of what Africans and their brothers and sisters in the African Diaspora should immediately do on the continent include the following: 1) Clinical trials on local remedies such as Zumbani/Umsuzwane (Lippia javanica) and Moringa (Moringa oleifera) to demonstrate drug safety, efficacy and side effects (if any) leading to professional packaging of medicines with specific professional dosages. Clinical trials to formally establish the impact and limitations of other natural solutions such as steaming, culminating in the development of technical guidelines for the interventions. 2) Clinical trials of human formulation of the ‘wonder drug’ Ivermectin for use in prevention and treatment of COVID-19 to establish drug safety, efficacy and side effects among African populations. 3) Development of laboratory capacity to test the safety, efficacy and side effects of all the COVID-19 vaccines – without exception – being brought into the continent. Africans must independently do this evaluation before using any of the externally developed vaccines. As the first batch of vaccines arrives in SA...

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. “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.” This happens as the African Development Bank projects that the region is set to recover to 3.7 percent in the baseline...

For many African long-distance drivers, 2021 began in a traffic jam. In southern Africa in particular, border traffic is only possible under difficult conditions: on 12 January, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa tightened entry restrictions. Initially, only important goods such as food, gasoline or medical equipment are allowed to cross the strictly guarded borders for months until mid-February. Long queues of trucks are therefore formed, especially on the Zimbabwean and Mozambican sides. At the Beitbridge border crossing in Zimbabwe, drivers have to wait up to four days to enter South Africa. The daily losses to the economy are immense. Southern Africa: Borders tight, illegal cross-border commuters The small border traffic of traders and day laborers has also become more difficult. If you don't have a permanent visa for South Africa, you won't be able to get into the country easily. In addition, all those wishing to enter must have negative Corona tests. Legally, the border between Mozambique and South Africa can hardly be crossed "Many Mozambicans have casual jobs in South Africa, others regularly buy products in South Africa as traders that they sell in Mozambique. These people are suffering greatly from the current situation," says Mozambican journalist Milton Maluleque. A few days ago, he took stock of the Lebombo border crossing between South Africa and Mozambique. "Long queues form every day at the border," Maluleque told DW. Few trucks would pass through, most small dealers and workers turned away. Many Mozambicans are therefore trying to cross the green border into South Africa illegally,...

THE East African Community (EAC) economy will rebound in 2021 if partner states strengthen macro-economic policy coordination and adopt a regional coordinated approach in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. Disruptions brought about by the pandemic last year provided a learning curve on the need to have sustainable EAC regional value chains integration for the development of finished products with a view of reducing industrial and trade risks arising out of external shocks. East African Business Council (EABC) Chairman Nick Nesbitt has noted that the region is projected to recover steadily but it was dependent on how the pandemic is handled. He was speaking in Nairobi at a media breakfast meeting on the state of EAC economies amid the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB) East Africa Economic Outlook 2020, the East Africa region is projected to recover to 3.7 per cent in the baseline scenario and 2.8 per cent in the worst-case scenario under the assumption that Covid-19 would be contained in the short-to-medium term. Mr Nesbitt emphasized the need for the EAC secretariat to fast-track a regional harmonised approach to promptly facilitate interventions at EAC border points to unclog trade blockages and facilitate faster clearance of goods. EABC has been emphasizing the need for EAC partner states to harmonise Covid-19 related charges and stop testing at border posts to avoid delays in truck and cargo clearance. This year, East Africa's inflation is projected to stand at 15.4 per cent in the baseline scenario and 16 per cent...

TradeMark Africa (TMA) and the Government of South Sudan launched a capacity building program that will benefit women entrepreneurs and informal women cross border traders. The Women in Trade Programme is a 9-month programme and is funded by Global Affairs Canada through regional trade agency TradeMark Africa. The programme will train women across the borders of Nimule, Kaya and Nadapal and will focus on improving the trading environment for women in trade as well as build business capacity of women traders, SMEs and Cooperatives. Through the Programme, TradeMark Africa seeks to increase incomes and improve livelihoods for women traders and women-owned enterprises through capacity building, addressing trade barriers and advocacy for policies that will create an enabling environment for women traders and women-led SMEs. This is part of a larger initiative by TMA to tackle poverty and reduce inequality through increased trade and competitiveness. The expected end of programme outcome is Increased Social and Economic Empowerment of Women Traders in Eastern Africa. The programs key objectives are to increase income from trade, increase the capacity of women to participate in trade and promote the rights of women in trade while reducing their vulnerability to violence and exploitation. The training will be undertaken by AMSCO Development Ltd, a pan African private sector development company. Read original article

With the African Continental Free-trade Area (AfCFTA) now operational, there are new opportunities for the UK and Africa to strengthen their trade and investment ties. AfCFTA came into effect on 1 January – a significant milestone in the journey towards creating a single market for goods and services. With a combined GDP of $3.3 trillion and a market of 1.2 billion people, AfCFTA has the potential to increase growth in Africa by $450 billion over the next decade, according to the World Bank’s estimates. By removing tariffs, reducing trade barriers, and standardizing regulatory frameworks, intra-African trade could rise from 15% currently to 25% by 2040, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The benefits of intra-regional trade are well known, and some examples already exist on the continent. Trademark East Africa, an initiative supported by the UK government that is aimed at driving trade across the East African community, has been effective in increasing trade flows and reducing trade costs by up to 10%. This initiative should be scaled to other regions in Africa to supplement AfCFTA and accelerate its rollout. Although the initial benefits will stem from increased intra-African trade, we believe that AfCFTA also provides a huge opportunity to boost the UK-Africa trade corridor. It will also stimulate significant investments into the continent, particularly in sectors such as technology, manufacturing and infrastructure. To achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that Africa requires up to US$600...