Kenya is witnessing an extended drought, and it is becoming evident that climate change is now directly and significantly affecting local livelihoods. The country is only about 20 per cent arable, making it highly vulnerable to extreme weather events such as high temperatures, droughts and floods, which have grave implications on food security, economic growth, and social stability. Urgent action is needed to build the resilience and adaptive capacities of sectors and communities to cope with climate change impacts and spur sustainable growth. The Kenyan government estimates that US$44 billion is needed by 2030 to implement various adaptation interventions across key sectors. Despite this significant financing need, a report published on the landscape of climate finance in Kenya shows that much of the funds that flowed into the country in 2018 were directed towards mitigation action (79.8 per cent), and mainly for renewable energy projects. Only 11.7 per cent of financing was for adaptation, while the remaining 8.5 per cent went towards cross-cutting issues. This low investment, coupled with competing development priorities and lowered economic growth due to the impacts of Covid-19, makes raising the needed resources for adaptation action an uphill task. But it must be done. For a long time, Kenya has depended on aid and grants to finance actions that address climate change impacts. These are largely designed as emergency responses, and have proven to be unsustainable. The need to find alternative, innovative and long-term strategies to raise adaptation finance is glaring. How can this be achieved?...

Americans investing in Tanzania stand to gain as President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s visit to the US has opened a US$1 billion investment opportunity Agriculture and mining are two of the most profitable investment sectors in Tanzania Over the past year, the government of Tanzania has made several changes to investment parameters. Americans investing in Tanzania will realize that the country offers opportunities that are profitable, not only in business terms but also in building Tanzania-US relations. As one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa, American investors who get into the country now stand to gain from the myriad benefits offered by natural resources in Tanzania. Investment opportunities in Tanzania range from mining and natural gas extraction to telecommunications. Over the past year, investors from many nationalities have ventured into Tanzania as it becomes an attractive investment destination. Tanzania-US relations run deep. The two nations established diplomatic relations in 1961. The April 15 meeting between Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan and US Vice President Kamala Harris is another milestone set to enhance the relations, particularly investment opportunities in Tanzania. Over the past year, the government of Tanzania has made several changes to investment parameters. According to President Suluhu Hassan’s administration, investing in Tanzania is the subsequent best option investors ought to seek, which is strategically positioning Tanzania’s investment potential. Tanzania has bagged more than 237 projects attracting US$4.144 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) compared to US$1.013 billion with 186 projects in 2020. During President Suluhu Hassan’s second tour in the US, Tanzania’s...

The entry of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into the East African Community (EAC) has made the region more attractive to business, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) acting Managing Director John Mwangemi has said. Mr Mwangemi said this would boost trade with the Port of Mombasa being a key facilitator of the regional trade. He said the huge potential has been bolstered by the recent admission of DRC to the EAC - now with a combined population of over 200 million people. The KPA boss said the entry of DRC to the EAC will also boost strategic infrastructural developments that respective governments are implementing to increase integration and make cargo movement seamless and efficient. He noted that KPA will soon be commissioning several infrastructural projects in the final phase of completion, to enhance efficiency and ease cargo evacuation. Key among these projects is the new Sh40 billion Kipevu Oil Terminal currently undergoing a trial phase in readiness for operations. The latest offshore oil terminal has four berths with the capacity to handle five different oil products including heavy fuel oil, three white oil products (DPK-aviation fuel, AGO-diesel and PMS-petrol) and crude oil. The Mombasa Port’s phase two of the second container terminal that will increase capacity at the port by 450,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) annually is also set for commissioning in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, the world’s fifth-largest shipping line, Hapag Lloyd Shipping Line is targeting to move at least one million TEUs to increase its market share...

Summary Farmers are holding onto 85 percent of the total stock of maize in the country, starving grain millers of supplies. The food balance sheet report from the Ministry of Agriculture indicates that growers are holding 8.5 million bags of maize stocks out of 10.1 million bags of 90Kgs, which has left millers facing a shortage of grain, subjecting consumers to high prices of flour. The report indicates that millers and traders are in possession of a paltry 1.5 million bags with the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) holding zero grains. Farmers are holding onto 85 percent of the total stock of maize in the country, starving grain millers of supplies. The supply of maize in the market has been low since the beginning of the year as farmers hoard their crop in anticipation of higher prices. The food balance sheet report from the Ministry of Agriculture indicates that growers are holding 8.5 million bags of maize stocks out of 10.1 million bags of 90Kgs, which has left millers facing a shortage of grain, subjecting consumers to high prices of flour. The report indicates that millers and traders are in possession of a paltry 1.5 million bags with the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) holding zero grains. NCPB has been targeting to buy two million bags of maize from farmers. “Most of the maize and bean stock was with the farmers,” said the report. Millers have recently complained that the flow of stocks from local farmers has been...

More than a third (36%) of Tanzanian companies have fully or partially resolved trade obstacles in the last six years, according to the International Trade Centre report, Invisible barriers to trade – United Republic of Tanzania: Business perspectives. The report based on a survey of over 600 businesses found that 72% of firms involved in cross-border trade – especially agricultural exporters – have difficulties with trade issues such as finding suitable export packaging materials and meeting international buyers’ quality standards. The survey also revealed that traders still struggle with delays, high fees and charges, as well as limited or deficient facilities at home – so-called procedural obstacles that stem from non-tariff measures. The United Republic of Tanzania has the potential to boost its exports by $2 billion in 2024. However, ‘$688 million of this untapped potential are in jeopardy due to market frictions such as lack of transparency and related non-tariff measures’, said ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton. ‘This is particularly true for small companies aiming to reach international markets. Clearly, better understanding of these trade constraints is crucial to develop appropriate trade policies.’ Government-led initiatives and regulatory reforms have eased some exporter difficulties since ITC conducted its first survey in the country in 2013-14. Among the most important changes: a pilot electronic single window to meet export requirements, better regional recognition of conformity assessments, and fewer or lower fees charged by different agencies. Companies say that better practices in public agencies are game-changers. ‘Import permission from the (former) Tanzania Food...

Summary Kenya and Tanzania were engaged in vicious trade spats during the regime of the late President John Magufuli, which almost killed cross-border trade between the two states. But the coming into power of President Samia heralded an era of reconciliation and cooperation. Kenya and Tanzania have hammered out a bilateral trade deal cutting across the aviation and energy sectors, enabling growth of the Common Market. In the new deal, Kenyan airline Jambojet will now be allowed to fly to destinations in Tanzania while Tanzania’s Taifa Gas has been granted permission to establish a plant in Kenya’s Export Processing Zone. The deal comes after a series of meetings that have been going between Kenya and Tanzania since May 2021, following President Samia Suluhu’s inaugural state visit to Kenya. The two East African Community partners have also resolved the disputes involving aviation, tour vans, Covid-19 clearance certificates, clearance of goods at the Namanga-Kenya-Tanzania border and mutual recognition of engineers’ certificates. Johnson Weru, Kenya’s principal secretary in the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development, told The EastAfrican this week that the teams have resolved four of the 18 outstanding issues, adding that they will meet in the second week of July “to discuss the remaining items”. Mr Weru is co-chair of the bilateral talks. The other chair, Prof Godius Kahyarara, was recently transferred from Tanzania’s Investment Ministry to the newly established Investment, Industry and Trade Ministry. The deal is a boom for Kenya’s low-cost airline Jambojet, a subsidiary of Kenya Airways, which recently...

12th April 2022, Nairobi: Transport and transit information along the Northern Corridor is now available at a touch of a button following the launch of the Northern Corridor Transport Observatory Portal by the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) today. The automation of the portal will dramatically improve development and increase access of various metrics needed by policy makers to facilitate to better transit, trade facilitation and cooperation between NCTTFA Member States. It was funded by UKAID, USAID and Denmark through TradeMark Africa at a cost of US$ 1.15 million. The Transport Observatory houses 48 key indicators grouped into six categories displaying; trade volumes and capacity, transit times and delays, transport costs and rates, efficiency and productivity, Green House Gas emissions and Intra-regional trade. Users will also be able to access newsletters and weekly performance trackers such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual and annual reports and Green House Gas emission updates. Also available is the Geographic Information System (GIS) module that allows users to view the status of various infrastructure along the Northern Corridor including border posts and weigh bridges. Prior to the now automated portal NCTTCA and policy makers relied on manual collection and verification of data that was costly and time consuming, resulting in delayed resolution of issues and publication of various reports. The system lacked modern features such as Geographic Information System (GIS) lowering the ability to easily filter information based on location. Speaking at the launch event, NCTCCA Executive Secretary CPA Omae NYARANDI said,...

Addis Ababa, April 6th, 2022: Today, Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (ECCSA), launched the Ethiopian Chamber Digital Service (ECDS), a digital system that enables the chamber to provide its services online to its members, the business community and the public at large. Irish Aid Ethiopia through TradeMark Africa (TMA) funded the development of ECDS; with the support channelled to supply the ICT infrastructure and software development. ECDS will move ECCSA services from manual and physical visit to digitized services in which traders get trade facilitation services at their convenient time and place, specially enabling ECCSA and its members to register their members online.  Moreover, it paves a way for companies to get registered and renew membership online and pay fees electronically. Ultimately, the electronic system contributes to the ease of doing business in Ethiopia by enabling traders to easily fulfil requirements and reduce transaction costs of trade. In addition to trade facilitation and membership management, ECDS has automated trade and investment promotion service, chamber academy, identifying Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), legal counselling and arbitration services, putting in one place key trade information for ease of access and dissemination. It becomes a single source for chamber services with lesser cost and time. ECDS is integrated to the Ethiopia Electronic Single Window System (EeSWS), and telebirr to further enhance the issuance of the Certificate of Origin and other trade facilitation. Presiding over the launch, his excellency Ato G/Meskel Chala, Minister of Trade and Regional Integration said ‘’ECCSA is highly appreciated to...

Mombasa, 31st March, 2022: East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) announced the automation of the Mombasa Tea Auction by unveiling the Integrated Tea Trading System (iTTS).  The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) -through TradeMark Africa- funded the USD 2Million digital platform. The importance of automation has been amplified by current efforts to mitigate the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region and facilitate safe trade. The Mombasa Tea Auction is the world’s largest black CTC tea auction for export.  Each week, teas worth over US$20 million are traded from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique and Ethiopia. Tea is one of the top export foreign exchange earners for Kenya, generating US$1.14 billion in 2021, and with more than 55 per cent of teas sold at the auction originating from small holder farmers, the auction is an important lynchpin in the industry, as well as the economy more broadly. The Integrated Tea Trading System (iTTS) project has automated the manual processes along the tea value chain. This covers the dispatch of made tea from the factory, receiving of the tea by the Warehouse, cataloguing and offering the tea for sale by the Broker, buying of the tea and paying for it by the buyer and the finally collecting the bought tea from the warehouse. The introduction of the automated trading platform sought to remedy the limitations in the old manual set-up, such as the lack of in-depth consolidated auction statistics, and limitation...

Dar es Salaam, 31st March 2022: Today, the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA), launched the Central Corridor Transport Observatory (CCTO), a system that provides reliable and timely information to policy makers in the region, facilitating formulation of policies that lead to better transit, trade facilitation and cooperation between CCTTFA Member States. The systems was developed by CCTTFA with support from TradeMark Africa (TMA) and funding from Denmark, Ireland, Norway, UKAID and USAID. The Central Corridor Transport Observatory (CCTO) aims at assessing the efficiency of the logistics chain along the Central Corridor and in turn making all this information available the click of a button. Users will now be able to access information on more than thirty-eight indicators grouped into six categories including: Volumes of transactions, Transit times, Cost of Services, Efficiency and Productivity, Green House Gas emissions and Safety. The Observatory provides access to special features the performance of the Corridor to include joint reports with Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority and Green House Gas emission updates. Also available is a Geographic Information System (GIS) module that allows users to view the location and status of various infrastructure. The event was graced by Mr. Mohamed Salum, Director of Legal Services, Ministry of Transport Tanzania, who represented the Permanent Secretary Mr. Gabriel Migire, CCTTFA Executive Director Capt. Dieudonne Dukundane, and TMA Tanzania Country Director Monica Hangi. Speaking at the event, Executive Director of CCTTFA Capt. Dieudonne Dukundane acknowledged the technical and financial support from TMA that has...