KIGALI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Experts attending the second high-level East African Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition (EAMBS) held in Rwanda's capital city Kigali said Wednesday that innovation is key for the East Africa manufacturing sector to compete globally. "We have to understand that our industries are operating in a global context, in an open globalized market place, and that is not going to change. We have to be innovative and work on our efficiencies. We should be able to produce high quality products that are competitive at international markets," said Ali Mafuruki, board chair of Trade Mark East Africa. He added that regional economies should strategically position themselves in the global business environment through producing locally made products that are price competitive. Rwanda hosts the forum from May 23 to 25, 2017 dubbed "harnessing the Manufacturing Potential for Sustainable Economic Growth". The three-day meeting includes an exhibition where investors, enterprises, researchers and academia will collectively showcase new products and services as well as exhibit the latest advances in manufacturing technology and innovation, particularly those with relevance to Small Medium Enterprises. Lilian Awinja, executive director of East African Business Council (EABC), called for innovative strategies that will raise competitiveness levels and expand the region's manufacturing and export base. "Innovations are now shaping the business environment. We need to add value to products produced in EAC. Our regional industries can now begin to raise manufacturing output and increase its share of global trade and production," she added. Mukhisa Kituyi, secretary-general of...

Trade efficiency systems in Zanzibar are expected to become efficient with the launch of an NTB monitoring and electronic certificate of origin systems by the Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (ZNCCIA). Both systems have been supported by TradeMark Africa (TMA). The two systems have been developed as part of efforts by the Zanzibar private sector to facilitate advocacy and monitoring of NTBs. The launch was graced by the Zanzibar Minister of Trade, Industry and Marketing, Honorable Amina Salum Ali, ZNCCIA Executive Director, Ms. Munira Humoud and TradeMark Africa (TMA) Tanzania Country Director, John Ulanga. The two systems will support ZNCCIA in fulfilling its goals of improving the business environment in Zanzibar by developing evidence based advocacy through realistic data and information gathered by the aid of the NTB monitoring system. The electronic certificate of origin will ease the issuance of certificates of origin by reducing physical movements and time taken to process the document. The target is to reduce the time for issuance of the certificates from the current four days to just a few hours. Two similar systems have been launched by TCCIA where more than 1000 certificates of origin have been issued electronically and more than 90 NTBs eliminated as the result of evidence based advocacy carried out by the private sector. More than 2000 SMS have been received in the NTB SMS system at TCCIA. This information will be catalogued with an aim of eliminating those NTBs identified through the private sector advocacy platform....

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday Tanzania could attain the middle income status by 2015 if the east African nation made growth more inclusive. Tao Zhang, the IMF Deputy Managing Director, said the private sector should take center stage in driving the economy coupled with increased investments in energy to attract investors. In his public address to academicians, investors, private sector and economists from the east African region, Tao also advised Tanzania to strengthen the judicial sector for fair resolution of disputes. Giving more tips on how to attain the middle income status, Tao said the Tanzanian government should also make its decision-making process more transparent and predictable across a range of rules and regulations. “The government should also ensure that businesses have a say in policy making,” he told his audience from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Tao emphasized the need for Tanzania to continue pushing for sound economic management and commitment to economic reforms that unlocked its potential. “First, it is essential to increase investment in an effective way to address key bottlenecks in the economy and create more jobs,” he told the meeting themed: Achieving Tanzania’s Goal of Middle Income Status. He added: “Second, it is prudent to take concrete steps to strengthen the role of the private sector in the economy to help drive future growth.” Tao said a strong private sector could foster economic diversification, expand trade and deepen Tanzania’s integration into global value chains. On the East African Community (EAC) integration,...

Kenya’s hopes of having neighbours sign the much-needed economic partnership agreement with the European Union now depend on how soon the bloc will lift sanctions on Burundi. At a recent Heads of State Summit in Dar es Salaam, the East African Community resolved to hold any further discussions on the agreement only if Burundi’s situation is discussed in the same forum. SANCTIONS “The heads of state noted that the remaining partner states that have not signed the EU-EAC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are not in a position to do so pending clarification of issues they have identified in the agreement,” says the communique issued after the leaders met in the Tanzanian port city. “The summit also agreed that the EU sanctions on Burundi should be discussed alongside the EPA discussions.” Kenya was represented by Deputy President William Ruto who used the forum to call for removal of the non-tariff barriers he argued were killing inter-community trade. Cabinet Secretaries Phyllis Kandie (East African Affairs), Aden Mohammed (Industrialisation), also attended. TRADE PACTS But the issue here was the delayed signing of EPAs. Burundi, a member of the East African Community should essentially have signed, alongside Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), is a set of trade pacts that allow African countries specific privileges to export to the European Union markets without being subjected to customs. They cover trade in goods and development cooperation and covers on agriculture, fisheries and economic...

Regional manufacturers have been urged to embrace electronic trading platforms (e-commerce) to widen their market reach and become more productive and competitive. The experts said embracing such innovations will help reduce the cost of production and enhance the sector profitability. According to Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General, e-commerce is an instrumental and innovative tool for promoting industrialisation and trade across the region. Kituyi was speaking during the ongoing EAC Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition in Kigali on Tuesday. The three-day summit brought together more than 500 participants,  including business leaders,  experts and policy-makers, to discuss mechanisms to bolster regional industrialisation. Kituyi said manufacturers should take advantage of the immense opportunities presented by e-commerce platforms to enter new markets, create awareness about their products and drive sales to improve profits. The UNCTAD official observed that the economy today is being driven by digitisation, which makes it imperative for regional manufacturers to embrace e-commerce and tap into the untapped markets. This way the sector will be able to create more jobs and foster inclusive economic growth, he added. Matthias Wachter, the in charge of the Federation of German Industries department of security and raw materials, encouraged industrial players to employ technology and e-commerce in all their processes to increase production and tap new customers. “This way, they will be able to easily penetrate markets and sell products at competitive prices,” he added. Reducing cost of production Meanwhile, the business community has called on regional...

A senior Kenyan official, who is in Rwanda for the ongoing East African Manufacturing and Business Summit, has refuted claims that her government has reneged on a regional move to progressively ban used clothing. Betty Maina, principal secretary in the Kenyan ministry of labour and EAC affairs, told The New Times that Kenya has not made a U-turn on reduction of consumption of used clothing and that East Africans should have the dignity of wearing new clothing. Maina said: “That’s the aspiration of all regional heads of state and that’s something that has been upheld. Over the last few years, all the countries have been building up their textile industry with a view to ensuring that it can supply decent and competitively priced new cloths that will replace demand for used cloths.” “Kenya has been at the forefront of this. In the last two months Kenya sold or made available to the market in Kenya and the region new clothing made in EPZs and there is great demand for those new cloths.” An Export Processing Zone (EPZ) is a customs area where one is allowed to import plant, machinery, equipment and material for the manufacture of export goods under security, without payment of duty. Contrary to what is being alleged, Maina said Kenya seeks to expand availability of new clothing made in the country to other east African countries and it is committed to ensuring that consumers “have an affordable choice of locally made textiles so that overtime, we can...

Djibouti has formally opened one of four new ports designed to cement the tiny Horn of Africa nation's position as a continental hub, a statement from the ports authority said on Wednesday. Doraleh Multipurpose Port has been substantially upgraded as part of a Chinese-backed plan to establish Africa's largest free-trade zone that can handle $7 billion of goods a year. "The port of Djibouti is a gateway to one of the fastest growing regions of the world with 30,000 ships transiting the port each year," the statement said. "Located on two of the three busiest shipping routes in the world, the port provides a strategic platform for maritime activity connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe." Tiny Djibouti, with a population of 876,000, has long punched above its weight. It hosts large U.S. and French naval bases; China is also building a naval base. Djibouti also handles roughly 95 percent of the inbound trade for neighbouring Ethiopia, population 99 million. Doraleh's bulk terminal can handle 2 million tons of cargo a year, and offers space to store 100,000 tons of fertilizer, 100,000 tons of grain, and warehouses for other goods. The break bulk terminal can handle 6 million tons of cargo annually, the statement said, and there are 40,000 slots for vehicles at the RO-RO terminal. Two other ports designed to export salt and potash will open next month. Djibouti mainly handles goods from Asia, representing nearly 60 percent of traffic, the statement said. In 2015, overall traffic to Djibouti increased 20...

Of the estimated 50,000 vehicles imported to Tanzania annually through the port of the Dar es Salaam Port, some 70 per cent of them remain the country's commercial capital. That is quite a disproportionate sharing of vehicles, given that this is country of close to 50 million people, with "only" 5 million of them residing in Dar es Salaam. It is no wonder that despite efforts to upgrade city roads over the years, congestion remains the motorist's worst nightmare. Yet, people keep on buying cars. Surveys show that many middle income earners spend more on servicing car loans and operating them than they spend on their families' upkeep! Congestion on Dar es Salaam is not just about increase in cases of stress and road rage; it is also about wastage. Source: All Africa

The region's manufacturing sector has huge potential and collective effort will be crucial for countries to exploit it, Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi has said. Murekezi was speaking at the official opening of the second East African Manufacturing and Business Summit in Kigali yesterday. He told regional policymakers, industrialists and other participants attending the summit that the East African Community has set out a target of ensuring that by 2032, the manufacturing sector will contribute 25 per cent to the bloc's GDP. Currently, manufacturing accounts for just 10 per cent of the GDP in the region. Murekezi said it is expected that by 2032 the bloc will have diversified the manufacturing base and raised the value of local content of manufactured exports to at least 40 per cent from the currently estimated value of 8 per cent. Source: All Africa

Regional manufacturers are currently in Kigali to chart ways of revitalising the sector and help increase its contribution to growth and job-creation in particular. The manufacturers, who are attending the second EAC Manufacturing Business Summit, want East African Community governments to put in place sector-supportive policies to drive growth. The East African business community blames the minimal contribution of 10 per cent to the bloc’s GDP on the lack of supportive policies and deliberate reforms to spur the sector’s growth. Other challenges such as high power tariffs, poor roads and high cost of air transport also need to be addressed by EAC partner states for the bloc to register meaningful growth, create more jobs for the youth and reduce its dependence on imports that erode foreign exchange reserves. In addition, the call by the East African Business Council for the region to produce “what we consume and consume what we produce” is timely. This challenges member states to promote value-addition initiatives, particularly among SMEs, to deepen and broaden the industrial sector. It’s such efforts that would lay a firm foundation that would allow for improved performance of the manufacturing sector. However, regional governments must be ready to review laws that discourage trade and fair competition. The EAC Heads of Summit meeting held in Dar es Salaamm, Tanzania on Sunday  raised the issue of non-tariff barriers and the declining trade among member states. This calls for bureaucrats in the region to revise policies that affect manufacturing and trade within the bloc....