Following its launch late last year, US-based technology and trade firm Kountable is partnering with SMEs within the East Africa region in its bid to secure early traction. Kountable has already signed an agreement with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) to open the platform to its SME members to ensure their businesses do not fail in supply by matching them to other companies offering the same goods and facilitating the trade. The company is focused on ICT, healthcare, industrial and energy equipment, and plans to cover other verticals. "At the end of the day, it is how quickly you can make goods trade faster and make transactions in the supply chain easier," said Bramuel Mwalo, Kenyan Country Manager at Kountable. Speaking at the Global Trade Review Africa conference in Nairobi, Mwalo said, "The supply chain trade in Africa is at US$3 trillion. Banks in trade finance only finance thirty percent of that. Some of the SMEs do not have collateral or the power to move supply goods from offshore countries." "These are the reasons why banks and financial institutions are unable to finance them. They do not take performance risk," he added. Kountable makes heavy use of cleaned data to ensure that SMEs fit the financing profile. They then pay upfront for the supplies and ensure they are successful. Mwalo said the lack of data in Africa represents a challenge to companies trying to establish a strong credit history, effectively locking them out of finance. "We...

Since the start of the new millennium, sub-Saharan African economies have undergone a dramatic boom. This surge has been marked by rapidly increasing trade and investment on continent – sometimes described as the “new scramble for Africa,”, which has seen competition between the US, European nations and China. China, however, leads on many fronts, and its sharpening global competition with the U.S. is likewise playing out on the African continent. For the US, imperial tensions have been expressed most recently in the growing trade war with China. But China’s rise as a global power has accelerated this rivalry for several years. Beyond a struggle for mere access to resources, imperialism is the competitive drive for control over resources and markets. Africa is a critical component of China’s strategic objectives for economic growth and hegemony. China’s expansion across the continent has been dramatic, from trade to extraction to manufacturing. Chinese companies are responsible for approximately 12 percent of the continent’s industry, at a value of around $500 billion. In 2012, China became Africa’s largest trading partner and U.S.-Africa trade began to decline, with the U.S. making a sharp turn away from African oil imports to domestic production. Jobs created by Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2016 doubled from the year before and are more than triple the number created by U.S. investment. But as Brookings describes in a recent report, “China’s role on the African continent has been defined by the financing of more than 3,000, largely critical, infrastructure projects…. China has extended more...

NAIVASHA, Kenya, May 22 (Xinhua) -- An east African bloc said on Tuesday that its members have agreed to ratify a protocol that will allow pastoralists to freely and legally drive their livestock across borders in search of pastures. Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member states, who are holding a two-day meeting in the Kenyan town of Naivasha, challenged respective governments to move with speed and ratify the protocol so that the livestock corridors could be opened up. "Currently we have close to 1 million cattle from Kenya grazing in Moroto area of Uganda, and this is part of achieving this transhumance protocol," said Adan Yussuf Haji, chairman of the Kenyan parliament's Livestock Sub-sector Committee. Haji said that once the protocol is enacted, the issue of cattle rustling along border points would be a thing of the past. He noted that in most cases the movement of pastoralists and their livestock was caused by lack of pastures and water. The lawmaker challenged respective governments to move with haste and ratify the protocol so that the livestock corridors could be opened up, noting that parliament had embarked on the process of setting up a Livestock Development Authority. "This country has never had such an authority which will come in handy in addressing challenges facing members of the pastoralists' community which rely on livestock," he said. The meeting was organized by the Center for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD), IGAD's specialized institution for pastoral areas and livestock development, to discuss and...

FOOD  KAMPALA - The East African Community has launched the Regional East African Trade in staples (REACTS-II)project that will increase production of staple food to reduce  importations from non-member states. The three-year project worth sh22.2b agricultural covers Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda. It is aimed at helping 300,000 small holder farmers across the three countries. The project is funded by Kilimo Trust with support from Alliance from Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Speaking at the launch on Monday, the Deputy Prime minister, Moses Ali, presiding over the event said the project was timely as it will provide alternative guaranteed markets for farmers and formalise business in agriculture in the EAC partner states. “At the moment our farmers are held hostage by the middlemen and Uganda has no arrangement to buy from farmers as it was before liberalisation, in the 80s. We thought that with the introduction of the Warehouse Receipt System, this situation would be addressed,” Moses noted. He added that this will reap maximum benefits from national and regional trade. Moses further added that concerted efforts must be made to address the supply side constraints related to quantity, quality and regular supplies at competitive prices compared to imports from outside the region. He also noted that Kenya and Rwanda always experience an annual deficit of more than 400,000MT and 150,000MT respectively yet Uganda normally has a surplus of food. “Uganda has a comparative advantage having suitable agro-ecologies for production of maize and beans and a ready market for these products in...

China has asked East Africa countries to consider its free trade proposal, saying it will be of great economic benefit to the region. Chinese Embassy's economic and commercial affairs counsellor, Guo Ce further downplayed claims that Kenya had declined the plan, noting that they are yet to receive any formal response on the proposal from any of the EAC member countries. "Claims that Kenya has opposed free trade proposal are not true. Not a single country has responded to this proposal. The proposed trade arrangement will deepen economic and cultural ties between China and East Africa, opening numerous opportunities for business operators,’’ said Guo. Last week, Trade PS Chris Kiptoo told a local daily that Kenya will not sign a free trade agreement that China is advancing with EAC but instead propose for a preferential trade agreement with the Asian economic giant. Kiptoo said that the free trade pact will worsen the huge trade imbalance between the two countries and would further benefit China at the detriment of Kenya's economy. According to Economic Survey 2018, Kenya’s imports from China narrowly missed the Sh400 billion mark to hit Sh390 billion, accounting for 23 per cent of total imports. The glaring trade imbalance between Kenya and China resonates across Africa, with data from China Africa Research Initiative (CARI) showing that the continent sold $34 billion (Sh3.4 trillion) with China on a total trade of Sh17.2 trillion in 2015. "It is time we review our trade partnership with China if we want to...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) summit held in Kigali, Rwanda in March 2018 was supposed to be the culmination of former Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah’s dream of a truly united Africa. The CFTA, which was drafted in Niger in December 2017, envisages a trade area across the continent covering a market of 1.2bn people with a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion. According to research conducted by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the agreement could boost African economic output to around $29 trillion by 2050, and increase intra-African trade significantly. Currently, it stands at around 18% of total trade, which compares negatively to 59% in Asia and 69% in Europe. But just days before leaders from across the continent were supposed to sign the agreement, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari announced that Africa’s largest economy would not sign up to the historic accord pending further discussions with local trade unions and the business community. The move surprised most delegates in the opulent conference hall of the Kigali Convention Centre, especially because part of the agreement was negotiated under the chairpersonship of Nigeria. The country’s absence was compounded by the fact that South Africa, which is the continent’s second-largest economy, also did not sign up to the agreement. The absence of the two largest economies, however, did not come as a shock to one of the architects of the agreement, David Luke, coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) at UNECA. “It’s not all that surprising that we...

Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati and Uganda’s Minister for East African Affairs Kirunda Kivejinja have called for closer cross-border relations between the county and Eastern Uganda. Kivejinja, who is also Uganda’s second Deputy Prime Minister, said the Ugandan government will invest more in boosting trade between communities on either side of the shared border. Bungoma County is seeking to reap big from its strategic location as a gateway to Uganda and into other Eastern and Central Africa countries including Rwanda, Burundi and Southern Sudan. The County shares two border points with Uganda at Lwakhakha and Chepkube. The Malaba border point in Busia, situated 43km from Bungoma’s Central Business District, is also a vantage point in the region that makes it ideal for cross-border trade with Uganda and other countries on the Northern Corridor. Speaking on Monday when he opened the first Cross-Border (Cultural/Tourism) Expo between Bungoma and Eastern Uganda at The Tourist Hotel in Bungoma, Kivenjinja said the event was a turning point to actualise the integration of the East Africa Community. "This is the clearest intention to bring a people otherwise divided by colonial demarcations together," Kivenjinja said, adding that a bigger East Africa will create room enough for everybody. He called on the two regions to collaborate in finding common solutions to their shared problems and look within for growth. Governor Wangamati called on the two neighbours to take advantage of their location to grow business between them. Uganda, he said, is Kenya's second biggest and most important export...

Regional integration ranks among the most beneficial policies pursued by Kenya and its neighbours. By creating one large market, pooling resources and influence, East Africa is able to punch way above the weight of individual members. A bigger market is better placed to create jobs and prosperity. It is also more attractive to external investment. The East African Community (EAC) has travelled further down this road than many people realise. On all four fronts — creation of a customs union, common market, monetary union and a political federation — progress has been made, albeit, of course, amid challenges. The challenges are, however, tackled in an atmosphere of amity, mutual respect and trust. ONE MARKET A customs union has existed in East Africa since 2005. Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi and South Sudan have agreed to trade freely without charging goods and services originating from these countries any taxes and all goods entering their markets are charged a standard duty, the common external tariff. This, effectively, creates one market. Subsequent to the customs union, which became fully fledged in 2010, is the common market — in force for eight years. This allows the movement of goods, labour and capital and citizens to travel, work and live anywhere in the community. Member states do not move at the same speed but they do not have to — so long as they are committed and moving in the same direction. Kenya has opened its doors to all East Africans, setting an example to...

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA- There are basically three ways to earn an income – stealing, inheriting or trading goods, services and assets. Stealing in its myriad forms is contrary to good public policy. Inheritance would be limited and subject to vicissitudes. Trade at various levels has been acceptable architecture for incomes. The higher the trade values, the better for income generation. Lots of jeremiads about low intra-Africa trade have been churned out. Figures of a decade ago, putting intra-Africa trade at 10 to 12 percent of total trade, still haunt recent analysis. According to the COMTRADE data base, 2016 figures put intra-Africa trade at 21.2 percent. This is still low relative to EU at 61.7 percent, NAFTA at 50.3 percent and ASEAN at 24.3 percent, which are more developed regions. Intra-Africa trade levels, however, are comparable to or higher than those of other developing regions, with MERCOSUR and CARICOM at 13.6 and 9.7 percent in 2016 respectively. It can be noted also that the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite region accounts for 72 percent of intra-Africa trade, and Africa is the No.1 export market for the Tripartite region and several other countries. In a global environment of protectionist tit-for-tats sparked off by the Donald Trump of the United States, threatening a melt-down of the international trade system, conclusion of the African Continental Free Trade Area by 44 countries on 21 March 2018 in Rwanda, sent delightful reverberations around the world. This Agreement is expected to double intra-African trade, and as such a panacea to the low levels. A...

The Access Bank UK looking into Shariah-compliant offerings The Access Bank UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nigeria's Access Bank, aims to strengthen its Dubai position as local operations here are performing better than expected due to strong and growing trade ties between China, the Middle East and Sub-Sahara Africa, said a senior official. Jamie Simmonds, CEO and managing director of The Access Bank UK, said the amount of business flows between the UAE and Sub-Saharan Africa are expanding rapidly and the decision to have representation has reaped to have its benefits here. "For more broad views, the handshake between China and Sub-Saharan [Africa] is equally growing. We have a good presence in China; it also required good representation here and we are seeing benefit of that," he said. The bank's profit grew by 80 per cent from £9.9 million to £17.8 million. Included within these results was an improving performance from the bank's international branch in Dubai, which delivered income of £671,00 (Dh3.4 million), ensuring positive contribution after meeting its direct costs. "It [profits from Dubai operations] may not sound a lot but it covered more than cost base for us. And we are seeing considerable increase on the performance delivered in 2017. For Dubai, we are slightly ahead of what we expected to be; we want a sustainable base to be built around relationship. It takes time but once it happens it give rapid pace to the growth," he said. The bank has an office at the Dubai International...