iShamba, a mobile based platform that enables small holder farmers access real time agricultural and market price information and expert advice via SMS and a call centre, won global recognition in the recently held Mobile Innovation Awards. iShamba is funded by TRAC, the TradeMark Africa’s Challenge Fund and was devised by Mediae Company, Kenya. [caption id="attachment_10865" align="alignleft" width="600"] TMA challenge fund grantee iShamba wins two innovation awards[/caption] On 6th October 2015, the Mediae Company was awarded the winner of the ‘Effective Integration of Mobile in an OmniChannel Strategy’ category to reflect the valuable contribution made by iShamba in delivering agricultural information to farmers via SMS and call centre, alongside Mediae’s existing Shamba Shape-Up program that is offered via radio, print and TV. In addition, the product’s innovation was recognised with the “Regional Award (Africa)”. iShamba is the mobile complement to Shamba Shape-Up, an “edutainment” programme created by The Mediae Company. Aimed at East Africa’s rapidly growing rural audience, the makeover-style TV show aims to give its audience the tools they need to improve their farm’s productivity and profitability. Launched in March 2015, the iShamba project aimed to assist 20,000 smallholder farmers but as of the end of September 2015 this target had been well surpassed. The market price information improves a farmer’s bargaining power by providing timely information on crop prices from 27 markets across Kenya. “If you subscribe you get market prices for a couple of crops in a couple of locations, you get weather information, and we also...

The global chairman of the Pan African Movement and Kenya minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire, said  African governments should eradicate trade barriers if they are to create jobs and boost investment on the continent. Maj Gen Otafiire said this at the launch of a partnership between the Pan African Movement and TAL Group in Mombasa, Kenya. African countries continue to have trade barriers restricting the movement of goods and services despite efforts to unify the continent. In East Africa, for instance, the presence of nontariff barriers has restricted trading, especially where goods have to enter markets such as Kenya and Tanzania from Uganda. “African countries need to tear down artificial borders in order for the continent to get economic freedom. We have had political freedom for a while, but economic freedom remains a dream for most African countries,” Maj Gen Otafiire said. TAL Group runs a nine-acre Makupa Transit Shade at the Port of Mombasa. In June 2015, a coalition of three regional economic communities representing 26 African countries bringing together a population of 600 million people came together to form the Tripartite Free Trade Area, aimed at boosting intra-African trade. The continent, despite being resource rich, is one of the poorest with unemployment being a big problem. Unemployment among the youth in Uganda, for instance, is at about 63 per cent. “It is not until we pull our resources together so we can develop this continent. It hurts to see Africans drowning in the...

The World Trade Organisation’s Goods Council has approved a request from the US for the extension of the waiver of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). The waiver means that goods from African countries will continue to have free access to the US market and are exempt from the most favoured nation and non-discrimination provisions under the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The US enacted legislation in June 2015 extending the Agoa programme for 10 years, or until 30 September 2025.  The waiver will run until the expiry of the programme. It is estimated that with the approval, trade under Agoa in the East African countries will bring in $100 million in new investment to the region, which will create about 10,000 jobs in the period through to 2019. Imports of goods under Agoa provisions totalled $11.8 billion in 2014. Over 91 per cent of US imports from Agoa-eligible countries entered the US duty-free under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), or other zero-tariff provisions, it added. According to Nelson Ndirangu, director of economic affairs and international trade at Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the waiver had to be approved because it is inconsistent with the most favoured nation obligation. “Programmes such as the GSP, under which developed countries grant preferential tariff rates to developing country products, require a waiver by WTO because they accord some countries more favourable tariff treatment,” said Mr Ndirangu. Agoa enables about 6,500 commodities from sub-Saharan African countries to enter...

East African states have made considerable efforts in recent years to reduce the cost of doing business and boost intra-regional trade. There have been investments in large infrastructure projects, such as the expansion of ports and construction of highways; the introduction of one-stop border posts; and measures to ease the movement of goods and people across borders. But despite these efforts, the cost of doing business across the East African Community (EAC) remains high.

 Nairobi-headquartered TradeMark Africa (TMA) was established in 2010 with US$560m funding from a range of development agencies with the aim of improving trade in the region. TMA works with EAC institutions, national governments, and business and civil society organisations. How we made it in Africa spoke to TMA chief executive Frank Matsaert about the progress made in reducing trade costs, how to stop corruption, and the significance of informal traders. Below are edited excerpts. Businesses often complain about high transport costs in East Africa. Are things getting any better? The transport costs in East Africa are on average still about 60% higher than in the US and Europe. Landlocked countries like Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan and DRC can’t export much because the costs are just so high. The high trade cost is holding back these economies. We aim to solve these challenges through initiatives that increase physical access to markets, enhance the trade environment, and improve business competitiveness. One of our targets is to increase trade by 10% by the end of next year and we are...

ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire, 19 November 2015 / PRN Africa / — A key activity of the just concluded Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Week was a site visit to the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, where participants came face to face with the reality of integrating Africa through infrastructure. The Abidjan –Lagos Corridor is a PIDA flagship project. The 1,028-kilometre road, under construction, connects Abidjan, Accra, Cotonou, Lagos and Lome, considered to be West Africa's largest and most economically dynamic cities, with a combined population of more than 35 million people. The six-lane corridor also links vibrant sea ports, serving all the region's landlocked countries, thus facilitating intra and inter regional trade. “The corridor is one of the most important developments in the region; it accounts for about 75 percent of trade in the ECOWAS region”, said Edy Anthony, a transport expert with Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organisation (ALCO). “When you connect one country with another; one region with another, you reduce transport and trade barriers, expanding business opportunities between countries. This leads to growth of local economies and the region's at large, Anthony emphasised. The corridor is perceived as an instrument for driving the implementation of ECOWAS's flagship protocol on free movement of people and goods. The presidents of the five countries- Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria and Togo – approved the facility, which is a pilot project under the PIDA Service Delivery Mechanism. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is considering US$16 million support package to finance preparatory studies for sections of...

Regional free trade agreements promise to unify the continent's fragmented markets, writes Julians Amboko By and large, the world is caught in a phase of global economic transition: the possibility of the US and Europe exiting the zero-interest-rate terrain lurks in the horizon, despite seeming remote in the recent past; in China, the government is attempting to rebalance growth from over-reliance on exports as aggregate growth moderates toward the 6-to-7 percent band in 2015 (data from the statistical agency indicates growth in the second quarter stood at 6.9 percent) and in Japan, Abenomics is still firefighting further economic downturn. In Africa, economies are grappling with spillovers from adverse economic conditions in emerging markets such as China and Brazil, as well as a slump in commodity prices that has left countries exposed to elevated fiscal and foreign exchange pressures. In February, Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, slashed capital expenditure to 8.9 percent of planned expenditure from 23.7 percent in 2014, while the tanking of copper prices has seen the Zambian Kwacha depreciate 96.7 percent year-over-year as of 28 October this year. This explains why African economies are increasingly reaching for more robust regional integration and trade, in a bid to put foam on the runway and cushion themselves from a volatile external environment. As far as regional integration within the East African Community goes, it is not the typical occurrence of rhetoric moving ahead of evidence. For instance, all that is needed in cross-border travel for citizens of Kenya, Uganda and...

In 2010, Kenyan and Chinese archaeologists digging on the Indian Ocean coast found a haul of brass coins that have rewritten Africa’s trade history. Minted in the early 15th century, the coins show that Chinese missions were reaching the African continent 100 years before Europeans arrived. In the 1950s, newly-independent economies across Asia and Africa began to revive this ancient shipping route, but progress was slow. Trade between China and Africa only reached the US$1bn mark in the 1980s, with India-Africa trade following in 1991. This century, however, Asia-Africa trade has hit the fast lane. Trade between China and Africa has ballooned nearly seventeen-fold to $135bn, with trade between Africa and India surging six-fold to $55bn. This means more markets for African exports and access for Africans to a wider variety of consumer goods – often cheaper and better adapted to local conditions. Africa’s developing Meanwhile, imports of more affordable industrial goods – from 3G phone masts to efficient machine tools – have accelerated Africa’s own growth and development. Global Asian companies spanning agriculture, telecommunications, and infrastructure, such as Samsung and China Communications Construction Corp have made Africa-based enterprises a focal point for their foreign investments. Africa has also begun, slowly, to trade with itself. Companies like the Nigerian conglomerate Dangote Group are leading the way, expanding across the continent, whilst MTN’s telecoms presence across the continent continues to grow – where trade and connectivity are inextricably linked. Trade between Africa countries has doubled since 1990, in part jump-started by the...

As markets around the world become more integrated, trade policy is increasingly looked to as a path for building robust market systems, generating economic growth, and encouraging private entrepreneurship. Throughout the world, trade and development are closely intertwined, as evidenced by the recent launch of both the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) that will unite the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the larger African Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). These landmark trade initiatives are centred on how to use trade policy as a lever for regional integration and economic development, and they will require not only in-depth negotiations, but also ongoing legal and regulatory reform to align rules and strengthen institutions. As this paper will demonstrate, a stronger focus on development-led legal and regulatory reform will be needed to support negotiation and implementation of both trade agreements and World Trade Organization (WTO) disciplines and should be the lens through which trade and development is approached nationally, regionally, and multilaterally. Within institutions like the WTO, current approaches to trade and development focus primarily on generating and expanding market access to developed country markets, mainly through trade preference programmes, and special and differential (S&D) treatment for developing countries. While these aspects are important, they are not sufficient to achieve long-term economic diversification, improvements in livelihoods, and poverty reduction. Throughout the market, aid for trade (AfT) plays a pivotal role in helping countries and their stakeholders take...

MOMBASA, KENYA — A washed-out road in Kenya has blocked the flow of goods from Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Mombasa for a second straight day, officials said on Wednesday, choking the main trade route into East Africa. Mombasa handles imports such as fuel and other vital goods for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Queues began forming at about 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT) on Wednesday when heavy rains swept away a temporary road about 50km from Mombasa. The road was being used as a diversion while the main highway leading to the capital, Nairobi, was repaired. Police and truckers stuck on the road say the queues are now almost 50km long, with many trucks, busses and cars stranded far from towns and villages where they can purchase water and food. “I have not eaten since yesterday morning, not showered and not even changed clothes,” Nathaniel Chweya, a truck driver hauling 10 cars to the Ugandan capital of Kampala, told Reuters. Police urged patience as some motorists threatened to stage protests. “We are working on it. This is not an easy task and we are all affected. Give us time,” Martin Kariuki, Coast regional traffic police commandant, said. Willingtone Kiberenge, acting chief executive of the truck owners' umbrella body, Kenya Transporters Association, said the delays were piling on losses for trucking companies. “We have more than 1,500 trucks stuck in the traffic since yesterday. Nothing much has changed and the problem is escalating....

Valentine Rugwabiza, the Minister for East African Community, Affairs has urged border communities to take advantage of regional integration to develop. Addressing residents of Kirehe District at the official closure of the ministry's awareness week, over the weekend, Rugwabiza observed that it was the responsibility of the private sector to make good use of the opportunities that the region presents. The awareness was conducted to sensitise Rwandans on the benefits and opportunities of the EAC integration. The event was attended among others by Rwanda's Mps to the East African Legislative Assembly, Dr James Ndahiro and Valerie Nyirahabineza, and the Governor of Eastern Province Odette Uwamariya. Rugwabiza called on Rwandans to be aggressive if they are to benefit from the regional integration process. She said the East African Community put in place policies and structures to support and create an enabling environment for micro cross border traders in the region. "There's a lot we can get from the integration... for the past eight years we have been committed to ensuring that local businesses receive all the support they need to do their businesses... it can be done better through public private partnerships," she said. "Small businesses across borders are supposed to be tax free... you must know your rights so that no one exploits you. We shall be on close look to make sure all the agreed protocols are observed." Rugwabiza added. The minister pointed out that Rwanda joined the EAC with an aim of tapping into the region's economic benefits,...