Addis, 25th January: TradeMark Africa with funding from United Kingdom’s Foreign Common Wealth & Development Office (FCDO) has doubled its efforts in support to Ethiopia’s fight against COVID-19 delivering an additional batch of Personal Protective Equipment to ministry of Transport, and Ethiopian Customs Commission. The assistance includes Reusable masks, Hand sanitisers, Hand washing points, Disinfectant spray, Infrared Thermometer, Reusable Safety Boots, Full protective PPE for front line health workers, N95 face masks and face shields. The personal protective equipment will be made available to frontline workers at various border points to protect them from the risk of getting infected with COVID-19. TMA first delivered the PPE’s on 29th December 2020 in the presence of government ministers and British Embassy representatives as well as TMA-Ethiopia Country Director Mr. Tadesse Yimamu and Ministry of Transport state Minister MR. Kassahun Gofe. The PPE’s issued is worth more than US$ 30,000 and will cover the needs of an estimated 150 staff at Galafi and Togo Wajile for a period of two Months.  The partners have already distributed the PPE Galafi border the transit point of 95% of Ethiopia’s external trade volume with an estimated 1500 trucks crossing every day. The support is provided as part of TMA’s SafeTrade Emergency Facility (Safe Trade) programme whose component in Ethiopia is financed by FCDO. Making his remarks at the event, the Minister of Transport state Minister Mr. Kassahun Gofe thanked TMA and the British Embassy for the support, underscored that, “people working in transport sector and border...

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing Sub-Saharan Africa to face its first recession in 25 years. Government and business leaders must focus on four key priority areas, including implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area and harnessing the digital transformation. These efforts can help support an inclusive, sustainable recovery for the region. The COVID-19 pandemic is driving Sub-Saharan Africa into its first recession in 25 years — putting decades of economic progress at risk. An inclusive, cohesive and sustainable recovery will depend on how effective governments and private sector partners are at addressing four key priorities. Implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) The African Continental Free Trade Area, which came into effect 1 January, can serve as a framework for the region’s economic recovery. The zone aims to connect 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion. It is estimated that the AfCFTA will increase the volume of intra-African trade by more than 81% by 2035, creating new opportunities for African manufacturers and workers. The World Economic Forum’s Regional Action Group for Africa, in collaboration with Deloitte, recently published a report that addresses how governments and the private sector can leverage this opportunity by building effective regional value chains. Indeed, implementing the AfCFTA, which will require the cooperation and coordination of public and private stakeholders, will help usher in the kinds of reforms necessary to enhance long-term growth, reduce poverty and broaden economic inclusion. According to the World Bank, most of the...

President Salva Kiir will join his counterparts in the East African Community during the Heads of State meeting scheduled for February 27. This week, the EAC Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko announced that the meeting of the Presidents will be preceded by the region’s Council of Ministers on February 25. “We are also kindly proposing that the 21st Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of state be held on Saturday, February 27, 2021,” he revealed. In a letter addressed to all permanent secretaries and ministers for EAC Affairs from South Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, Mr Mfumukeko said: “Following consultations with the chairperson of the Council, the SG wishes to convene the 40th Ordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers from February 22-25, 2021 in Arusha, Tanzania.” The last meeting of the Heads of State was in May 2020, when only Presidents Salva Kiir, Uhuru Kenyatta, Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni attended at the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic emergency. Tanzania and Burundi did not attend the meeting. The May Consultative Meeting discussed the Regional Response to Covid-19 and the Free Movement of Goods. Since then, trade among East African Community states has continued to decline due to the failure by partner states to agree on trade liberalisation, integration, lack of product diversification, and non-tariff barriers as hurdles to intra-regional trade despite the implementation of the Single Customs Territory. EAC trade has continued to be dominated by agricultural commodities: Coffee, tea, tobacco, cotton, rice, maize and wheat flour. Manufactured...

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 25-The Private Equity Support Group has projected the country’s economy to grow at 5.7 percent in 2021. Regional Economist for East Africa, Standard Bank Kuria Kamau says that the growth will be influenced by the manufacturing, trade, education, and transport recording the highest level of growth. He added that there is also an increase in business activities with the lifting of the restrictions as companies can operate for longer hours thus increasing productivity. Head of Africa Research, Standard Bank Group Jibran Qureishi added that the debt service suspension in Kenya would likely support the external account in 2021. Kenya successfully applied for the debt service suspension initiative from the Paris club earlier this month. The Private Equity Support (PES) held its annual 2021 SME Outlook Forum on Friday the 22nd of January, which was facilitated by economists from Standard Bank of Africa. The Standard Bank Africa Research team equally revealed that most African economies are poised to have positive GDP growth in 2021 with exception of Angola. “The key thing is how we interpret this growth because GDP growth is probably not the best indicator for underlying consumption growth as we have seen for the last few years on the continent. Governments need to formulate policies that promote inclusive growth and promote the much-needed multipliers associated with this,” said Managing Partner of PES Diana Gichaga. According to the report, the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) had created optism of SME growth in the region bringing together...

The Somaliland Port of Berbera will be one of the distribution points for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and related immunization supplies to the landlocked countries in East and Central Africa after the DP World and UNICEF announced a wide-ranging partnership to support the global distribution. The new partnership – with a multi-million dollar value – is the largest to date to support UNICEF’s lead role in procuring and supplying 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines and auxiliary vaccination supplies on behalf of the COVAX Facility. DP World and UNICEF will also collaborate on other global programs in support of education, health, women’s empowerment, and water and sanitation. DP World, a leader in global end-to-end supply chain logistics, will provide UNICEF with logistics solutions and supply-chain expertise. By using DP World’s warehouse facilities in Dubai, UNICEF will have optimized access to many countries. In addition, DP World has committed to leveraging its global logistics infrastructure and services on a pro-bono basis in support of COVID-19 vaccine logistics needs, including transport, port, and storage requirements in countries where DP World is present. Dubai is currently used by UNICEF as a strategic hub for pre-positioning auxiliary materials needed for the COVID-19 vaccine campaigns, such as syringes and safety boxes. DP World has a huge presence in Somaliland’s port of Berbera where it is engaged in its expansion. The partnership was signed by Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World. It arose from UNICEF’s...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) helps to improve the attractiveness of Africa for investors, as the potential markets companies can tap have become much larger. This also places the continent in a stronger position to negotiate fair trade terms with other countries and blocs, African Union Commission (AUC) Commissioner for Trade and Industry Albert Muchanga said during a seminar on January 27. Companies can already start to trade in goods that have been designated under the rules of origin protocols, with the finalised agreement on rules of origins expected to be tabled before the AUC in June, he added during the seminar, which was hosted by nonprofit organisation Invest in Africa. "The rules of origin protect Africa from transshipments − imported goods that are not produced within the continent, but [whose manufacturers] want to take advantage of the larger addressable markets. "This is done on a product-by-product basis, and rules of origin and local content requirements for products in 85% of sectors have been finalised, allowing traders to immediately benefit from trading them within Africa," he noted. Additionally, the ongoing work of the AfCFTA secretariat to reduce and minimise tariff and nontariff barriers, which have historically contributed to fragmented markets in Africa, will also improve the prospects of investing in infrastructure and returns, and help to overcome the challenge of poor or misaligned infrastructure links between countries, said Muchanga. "Throughout the history of independence of Africa, most investors were hesitant to invest because the markets were too small...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which implementation phase took effect from January 1, this year, has the potential to build Africa’s capacity to manufacture, change the narrative of the continent’s economy and give Africa a stronger voice and positioning in the global economy. Making this known in Lagos, President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mansur Ahmed, expressed confidence that there would be a tremendous opportunity for growth and development for every one if the countries were willing to to make it a success. Ahmed, who spoke at this year’s ‘MAN Reporter of the Year Award/Presidential Media Luncheon at MAN House, Ikeja, Lagos, commended the Federal Government for its decision to re-open the land borders for ease of trade engagements, particularly under the implementation phase of the AfCFTA. Trading under the long–awaited AfCFTA finally began on January 1, this year, marking a very important milestone for African trade. The free trade agreement creates a single continental market for goods and services, with the aim of increasing intra-African trade by reducing tariffs by 90 per cent and harmonising trading rules at a continental level. The AfCFTA has the potential to increase intra-African trade by 52.3 per cent by 2022, but this, according to Ahmed, could not come without challenges, one of which is the issue dumping. “The dumping issue frankly is a matter of political will. Do our governments and political leaders have the political will to agree on those things that we have to do?,” he asked. The...

JOHANNESBURG – AFRICAN delegates on the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Friday agreed that the continent might speed up the build-up of productive infrastructure via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo mentioned it was essential that Africa harnesses its personal resources and deploy them as creatively as potential if it was to supply an inclusive, sustainable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Akufo-Addo mentioned Africa should return to macroeconomic stability and monetary accountability, and leverage quickly the use of digital applied sciences to reinforce our socio-economic lives. “The multilateral system is under strain, and we must do all that we can to generate the needed resources to achieve sustainable development,” Akufo-Addo mentioned. “We in Africa should make every effort to generate for ourselves the additional funds we need to advance, and hopefully our external partners – private and public – will lend their backing to the priorities we set.” AfCFTA is a key pillar for the area’s financial recovery and the world’s largest trade settlement, spanning a market of 1.3 billion folks and a gross dpmestic product of $3.4 trillion. Akufo-Addo echoed President Cyril Ramaphosa, who advised the digital WEF Davos Dialogues on Tuesday that South Africa had mobilised round $51 bn (R774bn) in new funding commitments during the last three years. Ramaphosa mentioned round one-fifth of the dedicated worth had already been invested in development and important gear for mining, manufacturing, telecoms and agriculture. “These interventions will enable South Africa to better realise...

IS it too soon to be optimistic about an economic revival in East Africa following the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the global economy? The latest data – and the region’s continued focus on transforming its key industries, sectors and infrastructure through technology – is giving me hope that the economic outlook is brightening. Trade in East Africa has already picked up: according to the Brookings Institute, after an initial drop in trade in Kenya during the early months of the pandemic, by July domestic exports were already 12.7% higher compared to the year before. That is not to say the pandemic did not have a significant impact on regional trade. For example, Kenya’s highly lucrative cut flower industry was brought to its knees earlier this year. When Europe locked down, it forced the closure of hotels and severely restricted public gatherings including weddings and funerals. Demand for Kenya’s cut flower exports plummeted from a high of 17,600 tons in February 2020 to a low of 8,000 tons in April. Kenya is the world’s third-largest exporter of cut flowers. The industry employs 150 000 people and contributes 1% of the country’s GDP. Flower-only export farms changed their business models by switching to growing vegetables – another of the country’s major horticultural exports – and could generate some revenue by exporting to the country’s European trade partners. Local food security was also improved, as produce could be used to feed vulnerable communities struggling with the impact of the pandemic. Tea exports,...

Obinna Chima The AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited has stressed the need for an improvement in infrastructure as well as product-handling efficiencies at the sea ports across the country. This, it stated, would lower overall costs of input imports and improve competitive advantage of exports. The commodity exchange stated this in its 2021 Annual Commodities Outlook. It also pointed out that lack of access to loans and fertilizers remained largely the biggest challenge to most farmers in 2020. Furthermore, it pointed out that the high interest rate environment in the country, coupled with the risk involved in agro- financing, could impede the capacity of farmers to pay back loans. These, it also stated had also been major impediments to loan access and disbursement over the years. “This explains the low exposure of banks to the agriculture space despite policy makers’ objective to enhance food security in the country,” it added. According to the National Bureau of Statistics data, credit to the Agriculture sector in Q2 2020 accounted for a meagre five per cent. Fertilizer on the other hand remains a core agriculture input which affects negatively or positively crop yield dependent on the usage per hectare. “At about 20kg fertilizer usage per hectare on the average, Nigeria lags Sub-Saharan peers like South Africa and Egypt that use over 100kg/ha and other developed economies that use above 200kg/ha. “This is despite measures to enhance the procurement and distribution of fertilizers to farmers during the farming season. While farmers according to the survey...