TradeMark East Africa, one of the world’s leading Aid for Trade organisation, has today rebranded to TradeMark Africa (TMA) (www.TradeMarkAfrica.com) and simultaneously officially launched its West Africa operations. Founded in 2010 in Kenya, today marks TradeMark Africa expansion from its previous core operational area of East Africa and the Horn, to also support countries in West and Southern Africa. TradeMark Africa now has a presence in fourteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, and Ghana. TradeMark Africa has to date made cumulative investments of over $1.3 billion in East Africa and the Horn, to reduce the time and costs of trading across borders, and to improve export competitiveness of African businesses. These have among other results slashed the time for traders to cross borders – by 70% on average; and for businesses to receive certification – often from many days to a number of hours. Its programmes have contributed to a 16.5% reduction in the total time it takes to transport a container on the Northern Corridor from Kenya’s Mombasa Port to Bujumbura, Burundi. As part of the pivot to West Africa, TradeMark Africa will support the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), based in Accra, Ghana, to realise its vision of integrating the $3.4 trillion African market. TradeMark Africa will also work with regional economic communities (RECs) such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to...

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco have chartered a way forward for the harmonisation of their parliamentary action to support the mandate of the PAP in achieving the objectives of the African Union, according to a joint statement issued on Friday. The commitment forms part of a Joint communique sanctioning the official visit of a high-level PAP delegation to the Kingdom of Morocco, where the President of the PAP and his delegation held consultations with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Retired Honourable. Rachidd Talbi Alami and the Speaker of the House of Councillors, Retired Honourable. Naam Miyara. The PAP and the Parliament of Morocco have agreed to work closely to establish formal frameworks and communication channels to support the policies, programmes, objectives and activities of the Continental Parliament. The two parties will also put in place mechanisms to ensure the enactment of enabling legislation for the effective implementation and realisation of Agenda 2063 and its effective integration into the respective National Development Plans. Additionally, the PAP delegation commended the Kingdom of Morocco for its ratification of the Protocol to the constitutive act of the AU relating to the PAP, also known as the Malabo Protocol. The two parties agreed to work together to urge the AU Member States that have not yet done so to ratify the Protocol. The engagements between the two Parliaments further resulted in an agreement to ensure the harmonisation of Member States’ laws, policies and structures in order...

At a session organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) as part of the 2022 World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum on 27 September 2022, experts urged the private sector to seize opportunities brought about by the green transition in Africa. The panel discussion entitled “MSMEs: The Key to Realising Sustainable Gains Under the AfCFTA”, moderated by Melaku Desta, Coordinator of ECA’s African Trade Policy Centre, explored sustainable initiatives to integrate green solutions in Africa’s small businesses, and attracted online and face-to-face participants. MSMEs: The Key to Realising Sustainable Gains Under the AfCFTA Panelists also underscored the sustainable gains to be harnessed from green trade alongside the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and called on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to anticipate challenges as businesses seek to integrate green solutions. In her keynote address, Dorothy Tembo, ITC Deputy Executive Director highlighted ITC’s Green2Compete initiative, which supports small businesses in enhancing their competitiveness by integrating green production techniques for sustainable trade. ITC is also working closely with the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) to increase transparency on private sustainability standards and plans to scale its work with market partners to achieve harmonization of these environmental standards, making them more attainable for small businesses. In his remarks, Hermogène Nsengimana, Secretary General of ARSO, emphasized the need to prioritize harmonization of standards to achieve sustainability. Of late, the sustainability and resilience of value chains has assumed greater importance due to the disruptions induced by...

With more investment in internet infrastructure and technological innovation, Rwanda could benefit more from increased trade in services, asserts the World Bank. This was stipulated in the latest World Bank report on Rwanda’s economic update released on September 23. It was dubbed “Boosting exports through technology, innovation and trade in Services.” Rwanda aspires to become a knowledge-based and services-led economy through diversification of its export base into distribution and logistics services, tourism, business travel and financial services, as part of the National Strategy for Transformation. These service activities offer significant employment opportunities for both relatively unskilled and more skilled workers in different sectors. Calvin Djiofack, World Bank Country Economist, noted that Rwanda should invest more in strengthening the link between e-commerce and exports as it is not fully exploited by local firms which lack information regarding foreign markets. “Investment in internet infrastructure can provide isolated enterprises, such as those in rural and underdeveloped urban areas, low-cost connectivity to markets and customers, and increase local firms’ participation in international trade,” he added. The report emphasises that enhanced digitisation could also foster digitally-enabled services to facilitate cross-border trade, support backward and forward linkages to agriculture, mining, and manufacturing. This call finds Rwanda on a journey of significant strides made over the last couple of years in improving ICT infrastructure to drive productivity of the entire economy, reduce transaction costs and inefficiencies in the use of capital and labour, data shows. In 2019, data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Minicom) indicate...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is building a fund and drafting a protocol to ensure participation of more women and youth in trade. This week, AfCFTA Secretary General Wamkele Mene said the fund, created through the Afreximbank and known as the AfCFTA Adjustment Facility, will be used to cushion countries from short-term revenue losses once they lift tariff barriers for cross-border trade. The tariffs, which include licences, permit fees and taxes, have been cited among the challenges limiting free trade, and the participation of women and youth. This is besides access to credit, market information and infrastructure. Some $1 billion has already been raised towards the facility: AfCFTA says the target is between $7 billion and $10 billion, reflecting just how important lifting the protectionist policies will be for trade to thrive. “Young Africans are at the cutting edge of technological advancements. We will be making a catastrophic mistake if we don’t include these important segments of our society in the implementation of this agreement,” Mr Mene said. The facility will be boosted by the African Trade Gateway, a digital platform “that will provide market and due diligence information about your counterparts, including the rules of origin, Customs procedures, as well as payments transfers platform”, he added. The AfCFTA is supposed to harmonise policies, seeing that 70 percent of informal trade in Africa is carried out by women. Mr Mene said small and medium enterprises by women contribute 60 percent of Africa’s GDP, creating 450 million jobs. The...

Regional trade facilitation organisation TradeMark Africa has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Agricultural and Bioscience International (CABI) to cement collaboration and working together for the organisations to promote and enhance market access for regional produce. The two organisations have collaborated since 2017 to implement various Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures (SPS) projects across East Africa in, among other areas, conducting studies on SPS Gaps in the region and tools to remedy the situation. At a time when SPS issues are significant non-tariff barriers blocking regional produce from lucrative continental and global markets, TMA and CABI will now jointly support strengthening of national SPS systems, engagement with Regional Economic Communities and support AfCFTA implementation specifically the Protocol on Trade in Goods and Annex 7 on Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures. Speaking during the MOU signing TMA CEO Frank Matsaert highlighted the immense potential the region’s agricultural sector holds, if risks in food safety, plant health and animal health are addressed “We look forward to working together in improving the safety of agricultural goods coming from this continent to the rest of the world to enhance market access. We will also bring our expertise of tapping into ICT to modernize how Standards and SPS licensing and regulation is undertaken for efficiency” On his part CABI Director for General Development Dr Dennis Rangi noted that the two organisations will create great synergies in SPS work which is a key catalyst to trade. “The coming into effect of the Africa...

Laden with roses and carnations, the plane will land at Stansted in the next three weeks. Grown for months in vast, humming greenhouses in the dull heat of Kenya’s Rift Valley, the flowers were unearthed, dusted off, wrapped and dispatched for export to the UK earlier this month. While the process might seem plus ça change for the growers, for British and Kenyan customs officials, these bouquets are the future of trade – one of the first examples of a consignment of goods exported to the UK almost entirely using electronic documentation. The exercise forms part of a much larger trial testing the viability of an entirely digital model for trading practices. Organised by the Institute of Exports & International Trade (IOE&IT) in collaboration with TradeMark Africa, the Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP) initiative is one of a series of government-sponsored pilots that aim to demonstrate the feasibility of capturing all necessary data about a container for the importing nation’s customs officials before it even leaves its country of origin. If successful, this ‘Ecosystem of Trust’ could provide a blueprint for avoiding the endless form-filling that accompanies international trade – a headache that has grown increasingly painful for UK exporters since Brexit. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the export of foodstuffs from the UK to the EU, where Brexit has created new pressures on companies of all sizes to accede to strict regulations from Brussels on documentation. Marco Forgione recalls a recent case of a large supermarket chain seeming to move a shipping...

Kenya's export value increased by 17 per cent in 2021 to hit KSh 666.7 billion (US$ 5.5 billion) compared to KSh 567.4 billion (US$ 4.7 billion) in 2020 Data from the Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) Business Intelligence Tool shows that the increase was influenced by earnings from top agricultural products (tea and horticultural products) The export volumes increased from 643.7 billion tonnes to 743.7 billion tonnes in 2021 with improved exports in clothing accessories and agricultural products Kenya's export value increased by 17 per cent in 2021 to hit KSh 666.7 billion (US$ 5.5 billion) compared to KSh 567.4 billion (US$ 4.7 billion) in 2020.This is according to the latest data from the Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) Business Intelligence Tool that shows that the increase was influenced by earnings from top agricultural products (tea and horticultural products). As per the report, tea and horticulture registered about KSh 296 billion (US 2.4 billion), a 44.4 per cent of the total domestic exports.The export volumes increased from 643.7 billion tonnes to 743.7 billion tonnes in 2021 with improved exports in clothing accessories and agricultural products. "Through the trade facilitation platform, Kenya Exported approximately 1.2 million tonnes of agricultural products especially tea and horticulture that still stand as our main export," the report states. Uganda remains Kenya's largest market, exporting goods worth KSh. 91.6 billion (US$756 million), followed by Netherlands at KSh 61.6 billion (US$510 million) and USA at KSh 59.5 billion (US$ 493 million). The African Market, Europe and Asia...

The Organisation of Women in Trade (OWIT), a trade and investment support oorganistion that works on improving the knowledge and skill base of women on trade laws, policies, rules and procedures, is scheduled to hold an impact-packed four-day conference in Abuja. In a statement signed by the president of OWIT-Nigeria, Mrs Blessing Irabor-Oza, this year’s Africa Women Trade Conference(second in series) on the heels of a successful hosting of its first outing in Nairobi, Kenya, will be hosted by OWIT Nigeria in collaboration with OWIT Zimbabwe, OWIT Nairobi, and OWIT South Africa. According to her, the conference will aim at providing better representation through integration for African women-owned businesses in regional and global value chains. It will help establish a better understanding of the links between gender and trade actions on the African continent and create a platform for African women in trade to navigate potential opportunities to trade in the Nigerian Market, build active partnerships and leverage existing networks. Irabor-Oza confirmed that the conference, being sponsored by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ-ECOWAS), International Trade Centre (ITC), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Africa Women & Youth Empowerment Group (AWYEG) was scheduled to span four days and will be launched with a pre-conference summit on policy dialogue for Women to trade under AfCFTA by Africa Women & Youth Empowerment Group (AWEYEG). The main conference will hold on the 28th and 29th of September with the theme “Positioning African Women For The Next Big Opportunity In The Regional...

Nairobi 25th August: Regional trade facilitation organisation TradeMark Africa has this morning signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Agricultural and Bioscience International (CABI) to cement collaboration and working together for the organisations to promote to enhance market access for regional produce. The two organisations have collaborated since 2017 to implement various Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures (SPS) projects across East Africa in, among other areas, conducting studies on SPS Gaps in the region and tools to remedy the situation. At a time when SPS issues are significant non-tariff barriers blocking regional produce from lucrative continental and global markets, TMA and CABI will now jointly support strengthening of national SPS systems, engagement with Regional Economic Communities and support AfCFTA implementation specifically the Protocol on Trade in Goods and Annex 7 on Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures. Speaking during the MOU signing TMA CEO Frank Matsaert highlighted the immense potential the region’s agricultural sector holds, if risks in food safety, plant health and animal health are addressed “We look forward to working together in improving the safety of agricultural goods coming from this continent to the rest of the world to enhance market access. We will also bring our expertise of tapping into ICT to modernize how Standards and SPS licensing and regulation is undertaken for efficiency” On his part CABI Director for General Development Dr Dennis Rangi noted that the two organisations will create great synergies in SPS work which is a key catalyst to trade. “The coming...