DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - The second round of Challenge Fund support for innovators and entrepreneurs working in the logistics and transport sector was launched recently with a financing mechanism in the range of $16m. The Logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT) Challenge Fund, which is a $16 million (Tsh.35.2 billion) grant-based financial mechanism, supports innovators with good ideas for products or services that can reduce the costs of transport and logistics in East Africa. According to TradeMark Africa (TMA) which is a non-profit organization, LIFT will provide grants ranging from $ 150,000 to $ 1,000,000 (Tsh.330 million to Tsh.2.2billion respectively) to winning proposals from innovators from across the world whose project ideas will be implemented in the East African Community (EAC). East Africa is reported to have the highest freight and transport costs in the world. It is said that the freight costs are over 50% higher than those of the United States and Europe per kilometre. Successful LIFT projects will contribute to TMA’s objective of reducing transport time along the main East Africa transport corridors by 15% by the end of 2016. Dr. Josephat Kweka, Country Director Tanzania, TMA said it was their hope that the entrepreneurs and innovators of the EAC in partnership with their counterparts internationally will drive forward development through the adoption or introduction of ‘best practice’ technologies in the transport and logistics sector, enabling local businesses to compete favorably in the increasingly global economy. “LIFT is a valuable financial instrument that supports private sector ‘can-do’...

On 23rd May, 2016, Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) handed over office equipment to facilitate the Coordination Office of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters. Amb. James Mugume, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the equipment from Mr. Richard Kamajugo, Senior Director for Trade Development, TMA Nairobi Office, during a brief handover ceremony attended by Ms Allen Asiimwe, TMA Country Director for Uganda, Mr. Moses Sabiiti, TMA Program Manager and Senior Officials from the NCIP Coordination Office. The Permanent Secretary conveyed the Ministry’s gratitude to Trade Mark East Africa for the support provided which will complement the resources of the Coordination Office. He pointed out that the Northern Corridor Initiative and Trade Mark East Africa have a common agenda of deepening regional integration, increasing competitiveness, reducing the cost of doing business, enhancing economic growth and improving people’s livelihoods. The equipment provided is valued at USD 29,050, equivalent to UGX 100 million and includes: 01 Heavy Duty Photocopier/Printer 04 Desktop Computers 04 Laptops 02 Projectors 02 Medium Duty mobile printers NCIP Coordination Office Source: Insider

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo argues that African agriculture needs innovation and the youth. Every year, thousands of young Africans migrate from their families’ small, often struggling farms in the countryside. Their dream — sometimes fulfilled, often not — is to find a more rewarding and stimulating life in the continent’s rapidly growing cities. Few return but even fewer ever completely sever their ties. It’s a complicated connection and one I deeply understand. My own exodus to the city as a young man opened up lifetime opportunities that culminated in serving as president of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy.  But not only did I retain my ties to agriculture, I have now returned to my roots.  I’m a farmer again — at Obasanjo Farms Limited — and I’ve never been happier. Working as a farmer once more has given me a better perspective on two of the biggest challenges facing Africa today: how do we provide employment opportunities to the millions of young Africans under 25 years of age so they can stay in the village and farm? And how do we put an end to the seemingly endless cycles of food crises that are, as I write, playing out again with dismaying familiarity in parts of eastern and southern Africa? US$1 trillion food market Fortunately, more and more Africans such as myself are seeing these issues as intertwined. We see agribusiness as Africa’s biggest opportunity to not only end hunger and malnutrition, but also as Africa’s best hope for generating...

The latest business reforms under the stewardship of Rwanda Development Board (RDB) are a landmark in improving the investment environment and the country’s competitiveness and positioning. Rwanda ranks the second in Africa in the World Bank doing business index 2016. According to the World Bank doing business report published in 2015, Rwanda ranked best in East Africa in ease of doing business, and was second in Africa after Mauritius. Globally, Rwanda was assessed to be number two on the getting credit indicator. The same report indicated that Rwanda ranks 12th in the whole world when it comes to property registration. The land titles’ digitization system has made the country perform well as this has accentuated transparency, fast and efficient property registration. Statistics show that RDB registered 144 businesses, worth $1,078 billion, in 2015. The new reforms concern business registration, acquisition of construction permits, property registration, and cross-border trade, among others, which will spur the country’s competitiveness, attract new investments into the country and support existing enterprises. According to Gerald Mukubu, the Private Sector Federation (PSF) Chief Advocacy Officer, the reforms will enable traders to cut costs of operations. Understanding the reforms Starting business Business registration is done online in a maximum of 6 hours at no cost. Under this modernised registration, you create your own username and password, unlike in the past where you had to get the two from RDB. The website is in three languages; Kinyarwanda, French or English enabling you to easily register in any language you want....

The WTO has published its 2016 Annual Report covering the organization’s activities in 2015 and early 2016. The Report begins with a message from Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, who looks back at a memorable year for the WTO marked by the organization’s 20-year anniversary and the successful conclusion of the WTO’s Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. The opening section of the Report provides a brief overview of the past year, focusing on the WTO's major areas of activity. The second part provides more in-depth accounts of the WTO's work, covering trade negotiations, implementation of WTO agreements, trade monitoring, dispute settlement, support for developing countries and outreach activity. The Report includes a special focus on the major events of 2015: the 20th anniversary of the WTO; the Nairobi Ministerial Conference; the Fifth Global Review of Aid for Trade; the 2015 Public Forum; and the WTO’s Open Day. The Report is available as a printed publication and a PDF. An app of the report will soon be made available for viewing on tablets and smartphones. This will be available for download from the App Store, Google Play and Amazon. Source: WTO

For millions of Africans with no access to electricity, the old assumption was to wait for the grid to extend to rural areas in an election year. A new report by PwC however suggests that policymakers need to embrace the new renewable off-grid technologies and innovative business models to electrify the 634 million Africans by 2030. John Gibbs, Africa Deals Power & Utility Lead at PwC joins CNBC Africa to breakdown the findings of the report. Source: CNBC Africa

Complex tax laws and tedious revenue processes have hindered adequate revenue collection in Kenya. The country continues to earn its highest tax revenues from Pay As You Earn Strategy which has however not been adjusted over the years even with a higher cost of living. Titus Mukora, Director of Transfer Pricing at PricewaterhouseCoopers Kenya, joins CNBC Africa to give insight on what direction the country is bound to go. Source: CNBC Africa

General Electric has partnered with Mara Group and Atlas Merchant Capital in an initiative dedicated to investing in the highly underdeveloped African infrastructure sector. The companies, through a statement, said the joint venture will seek to invest in infrastructure equity projects in selected countries throughout Africa. The region has a plethora of hurdles that need urgent address and they range from electrification, water storage, transportation and port capacity. “More than 50 per cent of our African nations including Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and the DRC, don’t have access to electricity and an infrastructure investment of US$360bn in power production, power transmission, water storage, modern railways, port capacity and modern highways will be required until 2040,” said the statement. “Furthermore, Africa needs to spend $90 billion a year for the next decade in order to upgrade and maintain its existing infrastructure alone.” Africa's population is set to rise to 1.5 billion by 2025 and the surge will bring with it a strain to the current infrastructure. “Africa presents high growth prospects in power generation, transport, oil and gas and other infrastructure areas including mining,” read the statement. “The joint venture will focus on this broad set of segments by facilitating access to capital, thus offering the ability to execute and fully finance both advanced and early development stage projects.” President and CEO of GE Africa, Jay Ireland, said the venture unifies three businesses with a strong commitment and expertise in infrastructure in Africa. The joint venture is our response to an...

If Africa is to grow economies faster, one way of doing this is by improving broadband penetration; according to Rwanda's Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana. Nsengimana says the improvement in penetration was currently being hampered by the huge expense of devices. He made the comments at the Africa Development Bank's annual meeting that explored avenues to expedite smart Africa initiatives through ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies). He also said countries that have been relying on taxing ICTs to meet their budget deficits are finding it difficult to part with revenue from that sector. “Taxing the ICT sector from the production side is the wrong concept; the right thing to do is applying taxation at the consumption level,” Nsengimana told CNBC Africa. “We need to keep investing in our education system and nurturing the talents we have in the region.” He also said ICT cuts across everything from agriculture, access and quality of education, industrialisation and energy. “We could be doing a lot more by connecting our people to broadband, putting services online and improving people’s lifestyles through the use of ICT,” he added. There have been concerns of digital colonialism as 90 per cent of profits from apps go to U.S, Asia and Europe. Nsengimana does not agree. “The internet is an open platform, those who are maximising on profits are just industry leaders and we are followers. The situation is currently skewed in favour of the U.S as most popular apps and services...

A former vice chairman of the East African business council has been elected chairman during the council’s annual general meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya. The new chair, Econie Nijembere, who is also the chairman of Burundi federal chamber of commerce and industry, will now oversee the council’s general activities for one year, taking over from Rwandan Dennis Kerera who was chair over the 2015/2016 period. During the annual general meeting, the new chairman announced the increment of membership services by 20% as one of his key agendas. Source: Standard Media