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...

09th Sept. Kigali: Two hundred and forty-six (246) Clearing and freight forwarding professionals have today attained the East Africa Customs and Freight Forwarding Practising Certificate in a colourful graduation ceremony held in Kigali Rwanda. The professional course, offered under the apex freight body, Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Association (FEAFFA) in collaboration with East African Revenue Authorities and the EAC Directorate of Customs and with financial support from TradeMark Africa, aims at cutting down transport and logistics costs as well as cargo-time along key trade corridors, which constitute a significant part of trade costs in the region. Equipping freight logistics industry professionals with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes enable them to clear cargo more efficiently and effectively. In Rwanda, the course is managed in a partnership with the Rwanda Revenue Authority and the Rwanda Freight Forwarders Association under supervision of the National Curriculum Implementation Committee (NCIC). EACFFPC was adopted as an East African Community course as an intervention under our private sector logistics programme implemented by the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA). Speaking during the graduation ceremony the Chief Guest, Rwanda Revenue Authority Commissioner of Custom Services Felicien Mwumvaneza hailed the course as a great trade enabler for the region as well as enhancing prospects for professionals in the industry.  “The certification opens doors for advancement in multiple sectors, including RRA functions, private sector within Rwanda and the region. I believe you will take advantage of these opportunities” said Mwumvaneza. Congratulating the graduating cohort, TradeMark...

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...

The post-COVID-19 landscape the new U.K. leadership headed by Liz Truss inherits today shows widening social and economic disparities along with deeper inequalities of opportunities at the global level. Continuing the trend of cuts to the U.K. aid budget and the current policy of “aid for trade” will not provide the newly formed government with the backdrop to address some of the world’s largest poverty reduction challenges. U.K. leadership in the field of global aid and development was firmly established in 2013 when the country hit the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s target of giving 0.7% of gross national income as official development assistance. In 2021, after seven years of maintaining its 0.7% ODA contribution of GNI, the U.K. government lowered its commitment to 0.5% and cut its foreign aid budget by £4.6 billion, or $5.3 billion. Yet today, the poorest half of the world’s population shares only 8.5% of total global income. The global gender gap has increased by a generation, while racial and ethnic origin is a factor in multidimensional poverty. Furthermore, climate change is expected to push up to 135 million more people into poverty by 2030. The £4.6 billion cut seems small when compared to the over £10 billion known wastage in substandard personal protective equipment unfit for use at the peak of the pandemic in the United Kingdom. These cuts to the aid sector affect all four program areas identified as priority areas: health, education, climate, and humanitarian assistance. Effects of UK aid cuts According to ONE Campaign estimates, 7.1 million children will lose access to a “decent” education, of which 3.7 million are girls. These cuts will mean 5.3 million...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was signed on 21st March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda, by 44 out of the 55 African countries, and brokered by the African Union (AU). This agreement was born of the realisation that total trade exports from Africa to the rest of the world are estimated at USD 760 billion; however, this is mostly in the form of raw materials and thus prevents Africa from deriving the true value of such exports. Considering that African exports to the world make up only 3% of the total world trade value, there exists much scope for improvement. No wonder then, in a 2020 report, the World Bank estimated that by 2035, real income gains from full implementation of the agreement could be 7%, or nearly USD 450 billion, while predicting that the agreement could contribute to lifting an additional 30m people from extreme poverty and 68m people from moderate poverty. Against this backdrop, it is clear that the AfCFTA has the potential to make a significant impact on improving the livelihoods of the African people, by boosting intra-African trade and generating new employment opportunities on an integrated African labour market. In a follow-up report (https://bit.ly/3wZhqmM) published in June 2022, the World Bank listed other potential benefits of the AfCFTA on labour including higher-paid, better-quality jobs, especially for women; as well as wage rises of 11.2% for women and 9.8% for men by 2035. Policymakers say that the free movement of labour will be a key contributor to the successful...

The contemporary era of regional trade across the globe is one of a complex interaction between people, companies, and organisations. Supply chains traverse countries and regions. Trade has become an everyday business, and its performance largely depends on connectivity along roads, rail, and sea, telecommunications, financial markets, and information processing. Nevertheless, despite such conspicuous knowledge of what facilitates trade, Africa’s regional trade potential remains hugely under-exploited. World Bank notes that trade between countries on the continent represents 12 per cent of the total economic activity compared to 40 per cent in Asia and 60 per cent in Europe. To help bridge this gap, African nations instituted the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement on 1 January 2021. This marked the dawn of a new era in intra-regional trade facilitation. The agreement aims to eliminate import tariffs on 97per cent of goods traded globally and address non-tariff barriers. It opens up a market of more than 1.3 billion people and is expected to boost intra-African trade while encouraging direct investment in the continent from the rest of the world. While the deal focuses on facilitating trade and services and easing the regulatory measures and technical trade barriers, a lot needs to be done. For Africa to boost intra-regional trade from the 12 per cent reported by the World Bank to the target of 20 per cent, it needs to make significant changes in technology, infrastructure, and policy reforms. For one, boosting intra-African trade requires Africa to encourage more investment opportunities...

The Africa Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) has selected Ghana as part of a continental initiative to facilitate the creation and expansion of Export Trading Companies (ETCs) to promote intra-Africa trade under the AfCFTA. Export Trading Companies provide support services for firms engaged in exporting such as shipping, warehousing, insurance and market information among others. As a result, an ETC seminar has been held in Accra to sensitize African countries about the unique role of Export Trading Companies (ETCs) in diversifying African exports and promoting industrialization in the continent. The seminar which brought together key private and public sector actors in the continent, also discussed how ETCs are organized, operated, supported and regulated by government agencies. The Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Herbert Krapah said the government will play its role in providing the requisite regulation to attract private investments and partnerships in setting up ETCs. He emphasized Ghana’s readiness for vibrant trading under AfCFTA. The Deputy Minister for Trade said government is very enthused to take full advantage of the Guided Trade Initiative which is part of the AfCFTA Secretariat’s efforts to initiate commercially meaningful trade under the AfCFTA. As part of the initiative, it selected seven countries to provisionally start trading goods under the AfCFTA on a pilot basis. The countries include Rwanda, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, and Tanzania. The AfCFTA chose these countries because their tariff offers on goods have been fully approved and officially published. Herbert Krapah revealed that, “we were in Takoradi last...

ZIMBABWE is one of only four members of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) member countries that have received capacity building support aimed at eliminating Non-Tariff Barriers on trade of common goods. This is in line with the requisite regulations of Comesa, a 21-member economic bloc whose population exceeds 583 million, entails a Gross Domestic Product of $805 billion and sees export/import trade in goods worth US$324 billion per year. Comesa forms a major market place for both internal and external trading. A Non-Tariff Barrier is a form of restrictive trade measure where barriers to trade are set up and take a form other than a tariff. In a statement, Comesa said the regulations define the roles and responsibilities of the Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) institutions to deliver on the intended objective to eliminate barriers across the bloc and increase intra-regional trade. NTBs include quotas, levies, embargoes, sanctions and other restrictions and are frequently used by large and developed economies. “Four member States of Comesa have received capacity building support to their institutional frameworks for elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) on common goods, in compliance with the requisite Comesa regulations. “Madagascar is the latest member State to receive training to support the development of a National Strategy for elimination of NTBs. “Similar training has been conducted in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi,” said Comesa, adding that Egypt and Tunisia were the next in line. The training follows an earlier decision by the Comesa Council of Ministers to provide technical support...