Source: Youtube

Speaking ahead of upcoming annual research symposium on Sustainable and inclusive aid for trade, Atuheirwe urged governments in the region to do all that they can to ensure women have the right information to thrive in business. This is against a finding by Global entrepreneurship monitor report 2016/17 indicating that East Africa has some of the highest numbers of women entrepreneurs in the world, although, their businesses fail in high numbers. Reasons for discontinuing include unprofitability at 42 percent, lack of finance at 14 percent and other reasons at 44 percent. “We must acknowledge that women’s entrepreneurship is pivotal to East Africa’s economic transformation. It is crucial to ensure that all its citizens, especially women, are involved in trade and other economic activities”,” says Atuheirwe. The symposium, which will be held in Nairobi, is in partnership with University of Portsmouth (London). The conference will bring together 250 selected stakeholders forming a fusion of research, policy and practice. Those expected include East Africa’s government ministers, global trade policy experts, scholars, private sector players, regional women entrepreneurs and development partners. “The discussion from the symposium will offer practical solutions that will shape policies and interventions, which resonate with grassroot needs,” she says. It will explore wide ranging topics relating to empowerment of women in trade. The topics include legal and institutional barriers, inclusion and exclusion in global markets, trade policy advocacy, ICT for trade, socio-cultural enablers and limiters among other relatable issues.  Source: Capital Business

Tanzania has opened up its borders for an alcoholic drink from Kenya which had been barred entry since March this year. This is in the wake of the ongoing Public- Private Dialogue(PPD) with trade facilitation agencies at One-Stop Borders across the East Africa Community, aimed at adressing cross-border barriers. The initaive is under a TradeMark Africa(TMA) and East African Business Council (EABC) programme which scrutinizes if EAC agreements and practices are easing doing business across borders. The PPDs focus is on the extent to which partner states are translating the EAC Common Market and Customs Union Protocols into policies that support the actualization of free movement of goods and people. The debut EABC Public-Private Dialogue with Trade Facilitation Agencies at Namanga One-Stop Border Post brought together officials from Ministries of EAC Affairs, immigration, bureaus of standards, plant and animal health, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and revenue authorities. Others are the police, cross border traders, transporters, exporters, importers, business leaders and women in business under one roof. “Following EABC’s successful advocacy, the Tanzania Bureau of Standards, effective September 12 2019, eliminated a long-outstanding standards related NTB on importation of Smirnoff Ice Black from Kenya which had been denied entry into Tanzania since March 2019,” EABC chief executive Peter Mathuki announced. Another achievement from the PPD is that the heads of Namanga OSBP from Kenya and Tanzania side jointly agreed to hold a good-will neighborhood meeting, to come up with a framework to facilitate small traders living in either sides. The small traders will be...

On July 6-7, 2019 I was in Niamey both for the pre-Summit Business Forum and for the African Union’s Extra-Ordinary Summit to celebrate the first Anniversary of the Signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and launch of its operational phase. What is the outlook for the World’s largest single market? As I write, the AfCFTA process is well on track to be ready for trading in July 2020 as planned and Accra, Ghana has been chosen as a location of the AfCFTA Secretariat. In the 2019 edition of our UNCTAD Economic Development in Africa Report, titled Made in Africa: Rules of Origin for enhanced intra-African trade, we argue that it is Rules of Origin that will make or break the AfCFTA. Essentially, rules of origin are a passport for goods. Rules of Origin are at the cornerstone of what it means for goods to be labelled “Made in Africa”. They are a set of technical requirements that define goods’ eligibility for preferential tariffs on imports in a Free Trade Area. Rules of Origin Rules of origin are situated at the nexus of trade and industrial policy. Make them soft and a Free Trade Zone runs the risk of not spurring the creation of local value. Make them too strong and countries risk being considered too protectionist and firms may find them too difficult to comply with. The complexity and incompatibility of different sets of rules of origin across regional economic communities in Africa is one of the many...

The UK has this week (Tuesday 10th September) initialled an Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACU+M) that will allow business to keep trading freely after Brexit. This marks the end of formal trade discussions and the UK-SACU+M Economic Partnership Agreement will be subject to final checks before it is formally signed. The agreement allows businesses to continue to trade on preferential terms with South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini and Mozambique. It also supports the economic development of these Commonwealth partners laying the foundations for new trade and investment in the future. This will help to strengthen further the trading relationship between the UK and SACU+M nations, which was worth £9.7 billion last year. The SACU+M nations are an important market for UK exports of machinery and mechanical appliances worth £409 million in 2018, motor vehicles worth £335 million, and beverages including whisky worth £136 million. Consumers and businesses in the UK will continue to benefit from more choice and lower prices on goods imported from SACU+M countries. Major imports to the UK from these countries last year included edible fruit and nuts (£547 million) and motor vehicles (£409 million). Trade continuity agreements signed cover countries accounting for £89billion of the UK’s trade. When the SACU+M agreement is signed and takes effect, this will go up to £99bn. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said: “This trade agreement, once it is signed and takes effect, will allow businesses to keep trading after Brexit without any...

Somaliland is seeking investors to boost trade and ultimately the local economy. The semi-desert territory on the Coast of the Gulf of Aden, declared its independence from Somalia in 1991. It is a main livestock exporter. The World Bank pegs its Gross Domestic Product at $1.9 billion. As at 2017, the population of Somaliland stands at 3.5 million. The country has been working to secure recognition as a sovereign nation by the international community. In recent times, it has opened it doors for investors. Internationally acclaimed logistics company, DP world has pumped over $400 million to support the governments plans for diversification. We hear from my colleague Ronald Kato who spent a few days in Hergeisa and the port of Berbera. Kato speaks to Somaliland’s Finance Minister and Chief Executive of DP World about the company’s ongoing port expansion program. But how does this impact locals? Source: africa news

The Port of Mombasa has posted an 8.6 per cent growth in the last seven months to achieve a throughput of 19.69 million tonnes. Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director Daniel Manduku said the cargo volumes had risen from 18.4 million tonnes registered during the same period last year and projected that the port would handle 33.5 million tonnes by the end of the year. "The port registered a significant growth of 8.6 per cent in the total throughput from 18.14 million tonnes to 19.69 million tonnes. We expect to handle 33.5 million tonnes by the end of the year,” he said. Container traffic grew by 12.4 per cent from 728,309 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TUEs) to 818,915 TUEs. Mr Manduku (pictured) attributed the rise to strong growth in trans-shipment traffic, which rose by 124 per cent. He projected that it would exceed the annual forecast of 1.35 million TUEs. The MD was speaking at a KPA stakeholders luncheon in Nairobi on Wednesday where Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia was the chief guest. Transit cargo recorded 5.73 million tonnes, a 2.7 per cent growth from 5.58 million tonnes in the same period last year. Uganda continues to dominate this segment, accounting for 82 per cent of total transit volumes. For More of This and Other Stories, Grab Your Copy of the Standard Newspaper. Container cargo accounted to 41 per cent of the total throughput in 2018. Manduku said the second phase of the second container terminal was underway and would create...

Free Trade Areas (FTAs) need institutions to oversee, promote and monitor the implementation of obligations by the State Parties. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) establishes four key institutions, in addition to various technical bodies that are provided for in the different Protocols. These institutions will be responsible for ensuring that this ambitious undertaking succeeds. The functions of the new AfCFTA institutions include political oversight and policy direction, as well as technical guidance and assistance. This will entail a new challenge for the structures of the African Union (AU); when it moves into the world of international trade regulation and ensuring compliance with multilateral trade rules. (Only five of the 55 AU members do not belong to the World Trade Organization – WTO). The Assembly of the AU is the highest decision-making organ of the AfCFTA and shall provide oversight and strategic guidance on the AfCFTA, including the Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT). It also has the exclusive authority to adopt interpretations of this Agreement on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers. The decision to adopt an interpretation shall be taken by consensus.[1] The Council of Ministers (those Ministers of the State Parties responsible for trade) must ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of the Agreement and must take all measures necessary for promoting the AfCFTA objectives. The Council of Ministers shall report to the Assembly through the Executive Council of the AU.[2] The Committee of Senior Trade Officials (consisting of Permanent or Principal Secretaries designated by each State Party) must implement...

Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (Nexi), Japan’s export credit agency, has inked partnership agreements with three international financial institutions to accelerate trade and investment in Africa by Japanese companies. The deals were struck with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investments and Export Credit (ICIEC) and African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI). These partnerships will lead to the establishment of a “co-operative framework to promote setting up projects” on the continent, Nexi says. Nexi and ATI are also collaborating on the launch of a Japan desk, to be housed by ATI in Nairobi. The desk will provide tailored risk mitigation support to Japanese companies and investors doing business in Africa. A spokesperson for ATI tells GTR that the desk will be headed up by ATI underwriter Annabelle Buzingo, a recent recruit who joined at the start of the year from Export Development Canada. She will be supported in the role by an ATI credit analyst. In a release, Nexi says that it will conduct a trade and investment insurance training programme for staff from each of the three institutions, who will then work as Japan desk officers to create a supportive environment for Japanese companies. “We are very pleased to announce that the Japan desk will be set up in ATI to support African projects so that Japanese companies can obtain easy access to the reliable risk mitigation solution provided by ATI,” says Nexi chairman and CEO Atsuo Kuroda. The African market provides great potential for Japanese companies...

MILLIONS of Tanzanian smallholder farmers complain when their farms produce little or no crop yield. The irony is that very often the farmers and their extension officers pay little attention to having the soil of their plots tested. The excuse, albeit justified, is that testing the health of the soil is a distant dream. This excuse will not be acceptable in future because of the technology imported from The Netherlands. Tanzania now has a mobile soil testing laboratory that uses Dutch technology known as electromagnetic. This technology is championed by a private company, the Arushabased Life Support Systems Tanzania Limited (LSST). The laboratory tests have the potential to increase Tanzania’s agricultural production. But the situation will change very fast if the use of mobile soil testing laboratory will be popularised by district councils and district agricultural development officers and encouraging farmers to test the health of the soil of their plots. Testing the soil of a farm will cost between 25,000/-and 30,000/- Dutch Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Food Quality Marjolijn Sonnema said she was excited to witness the launch of the mobile laboratory and her country was keen on being part of the process that would transform smallholder farming. The minister was in the country to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU), between Tanzania and her country on aquaculture and poultry deputy Minister for Livestock and Fisheries AbdallahUlega and Ms Sonnema signed the document. Under the agreement, Tanzanians will get training in The Netherlands on how to increase productivity in...