You won’t have missed the nationalist mood engulfing big economies around the world: the US, Britain, Brazil, France and Germany are all stained by proto-fascists in and around power. Politicians in these countries talk of taking back control of borders; they are keen to identify those who should and should not receive state support.   But the politicians of Africa are headed in a different direction. Far from erecting walls, they want to build “the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation”, according to Sierra Leone’s trade minister Peter Bayuku Konte. The African Continental Free Trade Area, sporting the catchy acronym AfCFTA is an African market that is 1.2 billion people strong and has a gross domestic product of $2.5trn. Sierra Leone signed up to become a member on 7 November. It is a bold step by the continent’s leaders. A “new chapter in African unity”, according to Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, the energetic chair of the African Union (AU). He has been remarkably successful in whipping into line so many peers. Experts agree. “This level of diplomatic and political support for regional integration and trade has not been seen in Africa for a long time,” says Trudi Hartzenberg, executive director of the Trade Law Centre, which is based in South Africa. The economics certainly appear to stack up. Tiny fragmented African markets cannot hope to compete for global capital. And Africa’s most successful regional economic bloc, the East African Community, has been attracting great...

However, infrastructure deficit may hinder the progress of building AfCFTA Chinese entrepreneur He Liehui boarded a flight to Ghana and visited Africa for the first time 18 years ago. Now his businesses have landed on more than 20 African countries, after knocking on the door of each market one by one "The process was extremely difficult, due to a lack of understanding of the culture and laws of different African countries," said He, founder and president of the Touchroad International Holdings Group, a multinational business engaging in international trade, cultural exchanges, tourism, and special economic zone construction in Africa. To cite a few examples. His T-shirt business failed in Ghana, he lost large amounts of money when he first entered Nigeria, and he also had other experiences, like escaping from an arsenal explosion and stray bullets. African countries all have different rules and regulations, and each market has its unique features. The experience of doing business in one country could hardly be copied in another, said Tang Xiaoyang, a researcher on Africa studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "Having many scattered markets has long been an important factor that makes it difficult for traders and investors to expand their business on the African continent, and hinders the economic development of Africa," he said. However, the grand plan of building the African Continental Free Trade Area will definitely bring great economic momentum to the continent when it is completed. The AfCFTA was first signed in March of 2018 by 44 countries...

Rwandan tea outperformed Kenya’s at the Mombasa auction last year on the account of high quality that saw increased demand from buyers. Data from Tea Directorate indicates a kilogramme of Rwandan tea on average fetched Sh287 against Kenya’s Sh262 last year. The Rwandan price, however, came down from a high of Sh323 that the neighbouring state fetched the previous year while Kenya’s tea also declined from Sh300 to Sh262 in 2018. Rwanda, according to brokers at the auction, produces some of the best teas regionally, which attract a premium price from buyers at the auction. “Rwandan tea normally fetches good price at the auction because of good quality that results from best agronomical practices that they have invested in,” said one of the tea brokers. “To them (Rwanda) quality is more important than the volumes that they bring at the auction,” he added. Over seven countries sell their tea through the weekly Mombasa auction, destined for international market. The auction is managed by the East African Tea Traders Association. Earnings from Kenyan tea exports are projected to rise by Sh5 billion this year resulting from low volumes and high auction price. The Tea Directorate says the volume of the beverage will this year drop from a high of 450 million kilos that realised in 2018 to a low of 435 million. The decline in supply, says the directorate, will see the average auction price surge to Sh280 per kilo up from Sh260 achieved in 2018. Tea prices have been on...

Last year was a dynamic year for Africa in both positive and challenging ways. The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) was effected; Nigeria showed signs of moving out of recession with risks of going back, South Africa dipped into recession and the growing debt burden of African governments was brought into focus. In terms of economic diplomacy, 2018 saw China announce a $60 billion package for Africa during Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the US passed the Build Act which saw the creation of the International Development Finance Corporation, an agency that can invest up to $60 billion in the developing world; further the Trump Administration announced new strategy for Africa. The European Union proposed a new Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs involving a 25 per cent increase in the EU Africa budget for 2021-27 to about €40 billion. Given all these factors, what are the key focus points for Africa in 2019? Firstly, the indebtedness of African governments will be watched. The pace at which African governments are accruing debt is causing concern. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) points out that Sub-Saharan Africa public debt was at 57 per cent of its GDP in 2017, an increase of 20 percentage points in just five years. In other words, Africa as whole, owes more than half the value of its gross domestic product (GDP). In October the IMF raised Kenya’s risk of defaulting on debt repayments from low to moderate, forecasting the country’s total public debt will...

Rwandan official shave said that farmers and exporters will greatly benefit from the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), an Alibaba e-commerce platform – the first of its kind in Africa, launched last year in Rwanda. The remarks were made during a 4 day workshop concluded on Friday in Hangzhou China where Rwandan officials were trained on the transformative impact and promise of a new data-driven digital economy and how to drive economic growth by accelerating implementation of digital solutions like e-commerce, e-finance, big data industries and other digital solutions. The eWTP aims at opening doors for small businesses in Africa to take part in cross-border electronic trade. During the workshop, twelve participants from Rwanda met with Alibaba executives for the training that aimed at equipping them with knowledge to continue supporting the development of Rwanda’s digital economy. Participants included the Ambassador of Rwanda to China Charles Kayonga, the CEO of National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) Ambassador George William Kayonga and representatives from the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Higher Education Council (HEC), Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority (RURA), Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). The CEO of NAEB Amb. George William Kayonga who was leading the delegation from Kigali also said that Rwandan farmers and exporters will benefit from eWTP as they will be able to directly export value added products to China, a country with a market of 1.4 billion people. Charles Kayonga, Rwanda’s...

The Chinese government's move to cut taxes will further open the floodgates for cheap imports into Kenya, dealing a blow to local manufacturers. The three-year programme will see corporate-income, value-added and other corporate taxes for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) reduced, with the country's Central Bank cutting the amount of reserve a bank should maintain so as to release more money for lending. The move will enable Chinese factories to produce goods at far much lower costs, giving them an edge in the global marketplace. This comes as latest statistics show that China is Kenya’s largest source of imports for machinery and transport equipment, accounting for Sh291.8 billion. It's followed by India at Sh161.2 billion, Saudi Arabia (Sh138.4 billion) and UAE (Sh126 billion). With a conducive environment back home, Chinese companies could launch a trade offensive against Kenyan companies reeling from high energy costs, punitive licensing regimes, cheap imports and high taxes. In an interview, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) Chief Executive Phyllis Wakiaga said the trend is worrying since Kenya’s import bill increased by 20.5 per cent from 2016’s Sh1.4 trillion, to Sh1.7 trillion and Sh25.6 billion in 2017. And the last 10 months of 2018, goods worth Sh997.1 billion came compared to Sh291.8 billion worth of exports, hurting Kenya’s quest of finding a home-grown solution that promotes local manufacturing and hence more exports. KAM said continued importation of goods, even those made locally, makes no sense of the government's plan to promote Kenyan firms. KAM noted that...

In December 2018, we reported that Alibaba and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) were organising a unique e-Founders Fellowship Program for Rwandan entrepreneurs. According to the notice from RDB, the program was slated to kickstart in February this year. But, we have learnt that Alibaba is extending – what is now called Alibaba Netpreneur Training – to the rest of the East African region. “The Alibaba Netpreneur Training Rwanda program will welcome entrepreneurs and business leaders who currently operate in the Rwandan market, as well as those from the wider East African community,” reads part of the email that Digest Africa received. The consideration for businesses in the rest of East Africa is limited to those “who show actionable interest in expanding into the Rwandan market”. According to Alibaba, the goal of the programme is to help African entrepreneurs learn more about the company’s story. “The Alibaba Business School has created the Alibaba Netpreneur Training program to share the story and takeaways of Alibaba’s growth with entrepreneurs and business leaders around the world. We hope to inspire more businesses to embrace [the] digital economy, creating more opportunities for inclusive growth around the world.” In the previous announcement, the first batch dates were from 16th to 27th February 2019, which has since been adjusted to accommodate the new applicants. The program will, thus, take place from March 2nd-13th 2019 in Hangzhou, China while the new deadline for application is January 20, 2019. “Entrepreneurs and business leaders will have the opportunity to spend ten days...

President Paul Kagame has said that Africa needs to move out of being a stock for only raw materials and people, by adding more value to its resources. “Africa cannot just be a source of raw things. In fact, we have become even a source of raw people. We need to add value. We can do that with partnerships we can forge between Africa and Japan, Rwanda and Japan but we have to always be guided by this understanding,” said President Kagame to Japanese investors on Wednesday. The president who is on a two-day working visit to the Asian country with First Lady Jeannette Kagame, spoke to investors at Rwanda-Japan Business Forum organized by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in collaboration with Rwandan Embassy in Japan. For more than a decade, Rwanda’s economy has exhibited a steady 8% annual growth, while investments also continue to register significant increase. Going by the 2018 figures released by Rwanda development Board (RDB) – the country’s investments caretaker, in the last 8 years, investments in Rwanda jumped from $398 million in 2010 to slightly over $2.006 billion in 2018. Addressing the forum, President Kagame told investors that: “Much has been said about the excellent cooperation between Rwanda and Japan, and the good investment prospects in Rwanda including from those who are actually doing work in Rwanda. My job is simple and but also important: To welcome you and encourage you to do more business in and with Rwanda.” As of 2017, Rwanda’s trade...

KIGALI, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda Development Board (RDB) on Sunday met with a delegation of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba in Rwandan capital Kigali, discussing more agro-products exports to China. RDB and Alibaba seek to support Rwandan entrepreneurs to export more agro-products such as beef, crayfish, avocado, chili pepper, French bean, tree tomato, and other fruits and vegetables to China, by providing necessary infrastructure to boost agro-processing, lowering the cost of air-freight transport, providing more trainings to Rwandan entrepreneurs to enable them trade more product volumes and other ways, said a statement released by RDB. China presents a huge market for Rwanda, with its big population and increasing spending power, RDB CEO Claire Akamanzi said in the statement. RDB is exploring "unique and big" opportunities" of the Chinese market, she added. The delegation was in the central African country for the past week, meeting different government officials and private sector people, according to RDB. The visit was the follow-up of an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) agreement signed in October between the Rwandan government and Alibaba. The signing makes Rwanda the first African country that launches eWTP, proposed by Alibaba's Jack Ma with aims to promote public-private dialogue to foster a more effective and efficient policy and business environment to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in cross-border electronic trade. en.silkroad.news.cn

As Africa’s ministers of Trade met in Cairo between December 12 and 13, last  year, there was a lot to celebrate. Within nine months of its coming into being on March 21, 2018 in Kigali Rwanda, the African Continental Free Trade Area has been ratified by 13 countries. Only nine more countries are needed to reach the required 22. This will enable the second ratification instrument for the Agreement to come into force, and for the free trade area to be formally launched at the next African Union Summit next month. With this imminent entry into force, priority has now rightly shifted to fast tracking implementation of the agreement so that economic operators can actually utilise the expected trade and investment opportunities. On the shelves The issue is, Africa has been good at adopting agreements and taking numerous decisions, but very bad at implementation. The African Free Trade Area should not join this lot of instruments that remain on the shelves, hardly of any value in the end. Fortunately, some work has been done to publicise the African Free Trade Area around the continent and the world. The communication and visibility strategy mounted by the African Union and its partners has been effective in mobilising and reaching out to political leaders, the media, civil society, the private sector and academia. Though many have heard about the initiative, good knowledge of the rules of the game will be important to facilitate actual utilisation of the trade and investment opportunities. Long term and executive...