Women, who form a key part of informal trade in East Africa, will benefit from a programme to equip them with knowledge in customs and trade procedures as well as boost their revenue. The $4.5 million scheme by TradeMark Africa (TMA) will involve women traders from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan and run for about a year. “These efforts will enable women traders to overcome key challenges including access to market and trading information, understanding of customs and immigration requirements, compliance with standards, business development skills and access to finance,” Lisa Karanja, senior director for business competitiveness at TMA said. “Additionally, TMA will continue to strengthen women traders’ associations, groups and cooperatives to enable them to effectively engage with policymakers at national and local level, access group loans and engage in collective marketing.” TMA seeks to significantly contribute to women traders’ knowledge on EAC trade and export procedures by December 2016 in partnership with local organisations that will implement the programme. “Targets include a 10 per cent average increase in revenues of the targeted women exporters and traders, a 30 per cent increase in the use of formal trade channels and systems by the women cross-border traders and the adoption of policies, regulations or practices that support an enabling environment for women,” the agency said. A second five-year phase is envisaged for 2017 with a $15 million budget committed to the effort. “Empowering women creates a positive multiplier effect on poverty reduction, economic growth, government revenues and...

PERMITS TO ENHANCE TRADE DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, 21st October 2015 – The Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) and TradeMark Africa (TMA) have unveiled an information system (e-portal) that will enable TFDA serve its clients more efficiently and effectively. The launch signifies a milestone for the process that started in 2011 whereby TFDA has spent more than TZS 300 million from its own source in the development of Management Information System (MIS). TMA has contributed a total of $250,000 towards supporting TFDA digitalize its operations. Such investment included development of the system, installation of power backup to ensure reliable supply of power, training of staff, linking Headquarters with zone offices and training of stakeholders on application of the system. To date, the investment has facilitated development of a Management Information System (MIS) as well as an online [caption id="attachment_10030" align="alignleft" width="600"] Tanzania Chief Medical Officer, Prof. Mohammed Bakari launches the TFDA online portal. He is flanked by the TFDA Director General, Hiiti B. Sillo.[/caption] trade portal through which traders can apply for import and export certification services. TMA will continue to support TFDA automate all other key processes including the Laboratory Management Information System. Additional support will go towards integrating TFDA’s portal to finance Section to support an efficient platform for payment. Finally, TMA will support preparations for the TFDA portal to be integrated into the Tanzania National Single Window, which is under development. Speaking at the launch Dr. Donnan Mmbando, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health...

NAIROBI, Kenya - Transactions Bill 2014, paving way for the business and corporate world to transact business using digital means has been passed  The EAC lawmakers, according to a statement, supported the Bill saying it would grow the economies of Partner States and the region. The Bill had a number of clauses revised and are inserted to reflect relevancy and consistency. The Electronic Transaction Bill, 2014 seeks to meet the need of exploiting electronic transactions in the modern day business transactions. The Bill further wants to promote technological neutrality in applying the legislation to electronic communications and transactions and to develop a safe, secure and effective environment for the consumer, business and the Governments of the Partner States to conduct and use electronic transactions. Debate on the Bill was adjourned at the 1st Meeting of the 4th Session of the 3rd Assembly held in August 2015 in Kampala, Uganda to pave way for stakeholders to make additional input. The adjournment came after a request for deferment of the debate by the Chair of Council of Ministers, Dr. Abdallah Saadala was approved.   The Chair of Council of Ministers reiterated the total support of the Bill but added there was a need for more time for the consolidation of further inputs and comments by stakeholders. Meanwhile, consultations are been called to allow for the enrichment of the Report of the Committee of Communication, Trade and Investment. In his ruling then, Speaker, Daniel F Kidega directed that the Bill, whose initiator is...

Tourism industry players have pledged to bring down the cost of tourism products in the region to boost bookings in the region. The East Africa Tourism platform has commissioned a price competitiveness survey whose aim will be to ensure uniformity of prices across the five member states. Speaking in Diani, Kwale county, East Africa platform co-ordinator Carmen Nibigira said, the survey will inform how the five countries , Kenya Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi will develop and design price products that are relevant to the domestic and regional markets. Source: K 24

KAMPALA, Uganda - Participants in the two day annual Kampala conference on Urban and infrastructure development for the East African community have resolved to draft a regional urban policy document whose vision is to achieve productive, organised and resilient urban centres in the region.   Subsequently, the draft urban policy document will be submitted to the EAC headquarters secretariat and the respective sector ministries for perusal, input and developing strategies for implementation.   ‘Since the countries share the same urban challenges, there was no point for each country to draw its own policy but as we come to together,  we ought to borrow a leaf from the Nordic countries who share same policies on a given challenge,’ said Daniel Bwanika the coordinator of the conference.  Bwanika said East Africa is in the process of reorganising into a fully-fledged EAC ,   therefore urban infrastructure planning development  should be placed at the fore front and form a common policy to reduce on the plight of cities congested with informal settlements (slums), limited access to safe water and sanitation, security of land tenure, health, housing, electricity and security.  Representing  the Permanent secretary  at the opening of the conference Katsigaire Savino  the Director physical planning & urban development   told participants that knowledge acquired  from this conference would enable  the drivers of the national urban policy dissemination and implementation  to have a hands on experience in regard  to teasing  out workable means and ways of popularizing  the principles of sustainable and orderly  development...

Rwanda's push for new export markets could get a huge boost at the inaugural Nordic-East Africa Trade Summit and Expo, which will bring together private sector players from the East African Community (EAC) bloc and Nordic countries counterparts. The Nordic-East Africa Trade Summit and Expo 2015 slated for November 17-18 in Kampala, Uganda aims at opening new horizons of economic activity between the two regions by harnessing the potential of the EAC region, Rikke Adamsen, the chairperson of the Nordic Business Association, said in a statement. The conference is also aimed at creating a Nordic-East Africa business-to-business platform to share opportunities and knowledge for business growth in the East African market. She said private sector players from EAC will have a chance to interact and network with funders and potential business partners. Adamsen said: "We look forward to Rwanda's participation in the summit as it has a lot to offer the Nordic region in terms of trade and investments. Its reputation in pushing sanctions that deter corruption precedes it and bodes well with the Nordic investors' policy of zero-tolerance to graft. The Rwandan Government's pro-investment steadfastness to drive the economy through increased investments and exports is also commendable." Adamsen said in an interview on Friday that this is an example of the numerous points of convergence that should be unearthed between business in East Africa and the Nordic region. "That is the aim of the summit, to be a launch pad for lasting trade relations between the two blocs." The...

Hundreds of local women traders and exporters will benefit from a new programme under TradeMark Africa (TMA) that seeks to promote trade and support women-owned businesses in the region. The $19.5 million (about Rwf14.7 billion) Women and Trade programme will benefit about 25,000 businesswomen in Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda over the next six years, the trade facilitation organisation said in a statement last week. While launching the first phase of the $4.5 million project in Nairobi, Kenya last week, Frank Matsaert, the TMA chief executive officer, said the programme seeks to increase incomes and improve livelihoods for women traders and support women-owned enterprises through capacity building, addressing trade barriers and advocacy for policies that will create an enabling environment for them to thrive. Matsaert challenged regional governments and private sector to provide a conducive environment for women to trade, arguing that women inclusion is important to enhance the region’s business competitiveness. “It is, therefore, important to continually advocate for balanced frameworks and policy change that will nurture the growth of women in cross-border trade,” he said in the statement. Matsaert said the first phase of the project will run for a year, with the $15 million second five-year phase expected to be launched in 2017. Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Amb Amina Mohammed, lauded TMA’s commitment toward increasing women participation in regional trade, saying women involvement in business is key to success of EAC regional integration. “Empowering women creates a positive multiplier effect on poverty reduction,...

Enterprises run by women and operating across the five-nation East African Community stands to benefit from a $4.5 million (Sh463.9 million) fund to enhance their capacity. This follows last week's launch of a project dubbed "Women and Trade" by TradeMark Africa targeting about 25,000 women traders in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan. The project is funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. TMA said it plans to partner with local organisations in educating female traders on trade and export procedures in the EAC bloc. The firm said its targets include a 10 per cent average growth in revenues of the successful businesses by end of next year. TMA also hopes to increase by 30 per cent the use of formal trade systems, adoption of policies, regulations and practices that support an enabling environment for women in cross border traders. Speaking during the launch in Nairobi, Foreign Affairs and International Trade CS Amina Mohamed said the project will help support women in the dorminant Small and Medium-sized Enterprises sector "Empowering women creates a positive multiplier effect on poverty reduction, economic growth, government revenues and employment creation, among other factors," Mohamed said. She said the government is keen to see the successful integration of the region and "an overall functional Free-Trade area for the continent".TMA CEO Frank Matsaert said the one-year programme will help address trade barriers faced by the women, including harassment from middlemen and double taxation at border points. "Women have been marginalised either overtly through violence...

Cross-border trade in Sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by women traders who engage in informal trade because they lack market information but their economic potential can be elevated through skills training and education. Cross-border trade is the exportation of goods through country borders. “A lot of people go informal because they have the wrong idea about what they will be charged in the tariffs, there's corruption at the borders and we need to have more accountability at the borders,” said Lisa Karanja, Senior Director of Business Competitiveness at Trade Mark East Africa. They try to facilitate trade and ensure that the benefits are reaching everybody and contribute to economic growth. "Women dominate trade in East Africa, particularly informal trade ranges from large SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) exporting goods to smaller women who are taking vegetables across,” she said. Karanja says how often people say “just increase trade and it will be good for everyone” while trying to address poverty, but that is not the case for women she said as they struggle through areas that men might not. Women suffer from “time poverty” issues because they have to look after children and are expected to work on the farms as well as a lack of access to transportation forcing them to trade smaller goods. “It’s really an economic issue, with so many women in poverty; so many women engaged in small scale border trade, how do we ensure that the benefits of the reforms are actually reaching these women?" Karanja...

Successful regional integration needs women at the centre of business and trade Nairobi, 15th October 2015 – TradeMark Africa (TMA) today launched a USD 4.5 million Women and Trade programme in an event graced by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for foreign affairs. H.E. Ambassador Amina Mohammed and the Deputy Ambassador, Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Kenya H.E Marielle Geraedts. Other guests included Country Head of DFID Kenya, Lisa Philips and TMA CEO Frank Matsaert. [caption id="attachment_9933" align="alignleft" width="600"] From left: Lisa Karanja, Senior Director, Business Competitiveness TMA; Karin Andersson, TMA Council Chair; Frank Matsaert, CEO, TMA; H.E Marielle Geraedts, Deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands; Patricia Ithau, TMA Board member; Lisa Phillips, Head of DFID Kenya[/caption] Funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the programme targets 25,000 women traders in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan; and will run for approximately one year. A second five year phase is envisaged for 2017 with a USD 15million budget committed to the effort. Speaking during the ceremony, H.E. Amb. Amina Mohammed said, “Empowering women creates a positive multiplier effect on poverty reduction, economic growth, government revenues and employment creation, among other factors. We indeed are grateful to TMA and its partners for playing a big role in reducing poverty by increasing participation of women in export and trade in East Africa, increasing in female employment, increasing the value of exports and also supporting women in SME’s in East Africa. As a Government we are keen to see the successful integration...