Trade patterns in Africa are changing, with new products, new trading partners and new technologies all influencing the way African countries trade with each other and the world. As a result, African trade is growing as it has never grown before. This is benefiting African companies and economies, lifting living standards and providing opportunities for trade to and from the continent and between African countries. Africa is rich in opportunities - now while it is in the midst of transformative change, and in the future when expanding populations will increase the market size and a better educated middle class will increase consumer demand. By 2020 Africa will have a population of 2.1 billion people and a collective GDP of US$2.6 trillion. The continent is a minerals treasure house, has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land when world food demand is rising, and offshore gas finds are transforming economies, particularly down Africa’s east coast. Barclays has been involved in Africa for more than a century. Leveraging that experience, we have identified 10 factors which are influencing the rising trend of African trade in a combination that bodes well for the continent playing a larger role in world trade. Rapid and sustained economic growth. Africa’s GDP growth averaged 5% from 2002 to 2012, and is expected to climb above 5.5% from 2012 to 2017. This is higher than any region except Asia and puts Africa above Europe and America. Healthier economies. Together with economic growth has come improved governance, lower inflation,...

The State of Food Insecurity (Sofi) 2014 report stated that the World Food Summit goal of halving the number of undernourished people by 2015 cannot be met. What does that mean for Kenya and East Africa as a whole? Currently, statistics show that the number of undernourished people in the world is falling by an average of six million per year, which is well below the yearly target of 22 million necessary to achieve the World Food Summit goal. However, 63 countries, mostly from the developing world, have reached the hunger target in the first Millennium Development Goal. Sustained political commitment at the highest level, with food security and nutrition as top priorities, is a prerequisite for hunger eradication. Good news in Africa is that eradication of hunger is a top priority of the African Union, evidenced by African Heads of State committing to end hunger on the continent by 2025 in July 2014 at the African Union summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. In Kenya and East Africa, we must continue working with the governments to ensure the right to food for all. We highly appreciate the political commitment towards ensuring appropriate food security policies, programmes and laws at country level are developed and adopted. In addition, we need to engage better with the private sector, improve access to agricultural inputs, land, services, technologies, markets and promote investment in agriculture towards increasing the agricultural productivity in Kenya. Last but not least, we need to continue promoting rural development and nutrition...

NAIROBI, Kenya – Sitting in truck laden with parts of an oil rig, driver Opira Robinson, 45, rests his head on the steering wheel patiently waiting for customs clearing at Lungalunga, a Kenya-Tanzania border post in Kwale, about 101 kilometres south of Mombasa on the East African coast. He is moving the big rig from Pakwach in Northern Uganda heading for Tanzania’s coast. “I can’t wait to get out of here,” Opira says. “It took me a few hours to cross Malaba, but now I have been here two days already and it might take me two more weeks,” Opira said. At least 50 trucks cross through daily, according to Patrick Omare, the Kenya Customs station officer. The main commodities are Kenyan fruits and wheat exports – timber and maize imports from Tanzania. There is also Malawian tea headed for the Mombasa Tea Auction and some Zambian copper also going through the crossing. It is among 35 One-Stop-Border- Posts (OSBPs) that are under construction across the East African Community. The intention is to reduce delays and ensure faster cargo movement across the region. Money is being provided by the World Bank, African Development Bank and the Japan International Co-operation Agency. According to trade facilitation agency, Trademark East Africa (TMA) which is overseeing the posts. “They are aimed at reducing delays by allowing struck carrying goods to stop once, not twice,” said Frank Matsaert, the TMA Chief Executive Officer in an e-mail response to questions said. “Officials will share facilities on...

East African Community member states are seeking to harmonise courier and postal service operations in order to ease the movement of parcels and cargo around the region. Among the areas targeted for harmonisation are electronic transactions and licensing, and regulations for regional postal and courier operations. The strategy will include an assessment of the status of the postal sector in partner states, policies, laws and regulations for the sector, establishment of effective, efficient, and sustainable postal markets and the development of a modern postal infrastructure. A survey commissioned by the EAC to guide in the development of the strategy is complete. “The baseline survey for the EAC postal sector has been concluded, and a meeting to consider the report of the survey is scheduled for May,” said Philip Wambugu, the EAC Secretariat director of infrastructure. The committee spearheading the development of the strategy comprises postmasters-general, regulators, technical ministries and the East African Communications Organisation (EACO). The committee was established in 2013 to advise the EAC Council of Ministers on postal development in the region. “We will involve the private sector to see how well we can develop the strategy,” added Mr Wambugu. A courier service provider, for example, will only require one licence to operate across the region once the harmonised regulations are in place. The current requirement is to register in each of the member states for the domestic, regional and international categories. Charges vary in each country depending on duration and category. In Kenya, the initial licence fee...

More women in developing countries will own phones, thanks to the availability of cheap phones and features that appeal to them. According to mobile companies in the region, the mobile money platforms have encouraged women with low incomes to own a phone because of the need to receive and send money. Safaricom, Bharti Airtel, Vodacom and MTN all have mobile money platforms. “M-Pesa provides financial security for women as it gives them an independent place to store and manage their funds,” said Nzioka Waita, Safaricom corporate affairs manager. Orange Kenya is launching one of the cheapest phones in the market that will appeal to low-income earners. “We are launching the Kaduda handset, which will retail at Ksh999 ($11) and will have dual SIM capability, a 1.3MP camera, Bluetooth, a micro SD slot and data capability,” said the operator in a statement. A new study by Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) titled Women and Mobile: Still an Untapped Opportunity, shows that more women would be willing to own a phone if the handsets are cheap and have features and services that appeal to their gender. The study shows that the top five barriers to women owning and using mobile phones from a customer perspective are cost, network quality and coverage, security and harassment, operator/agent trust, and technical literacy and confidence. The study released last week was carried out in 11 countries including Kenya, Egypt and Niger. Others were India, Colombia, Jordan, Indonesia, Mexico, China and Turkey. “It is important to recognise...

Kigali and Dar seem determined to bury the hatchet and embark on regional integration initiatives together after almost two years of diplomatic tensions between the two countries which broke out in May 2013. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete was among the regional leaders who attended the 9th Northern Corridor Integration Projects summit in Kigali on Saturday during which the heads of states pledged to fast track different projects to link their countries to enhance trade and free movement of people. Anxiety gripped the East African Community following President Kikwete taking over the chairmanship from Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, particularly regarding how the Tanzanian leader would handle matters given the tensions between Dar and Kigali. However Rwanda and Tanzania seem to have put their differences aside in the interest of region integration, with President Kikwete particularly thanking President Paul Kagame for the invitation and ‘wonderful hospitality’. During the meeting, Kagame also emphasised the importance of Kikwete’s presence and what it means for the fast tracking of different integration projects, raising hopes that EAC partner states are finally putting aside their differences to move together. “Let me particularly thank President Kikwete, the chair of the East African Community, for finding time to be here with us,” President Kagame said amid applause from a seemingly relieved audience. “Let me quickly add that this raises prospects for many projects along different corridors of the East African geographical space to materialise with the speed that the East Africans want to see,” the Rwandan leader said. Kigali...

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 8 March 2015 / PRN Africa / — The EAC Secretariat celebrated International Women's Day as part of its strategy to increase the participation of women in the EAC's regional integration process. Under this year's theme ‘Make it Happen,' the Deputy Secretary General, together with the Arusha City Council, Women Organisations, Staff members of the EAC and other invited guests, took part in a ‘Walk for Gender Equality' around designated areas in Arusha town, visited the Maternity Unit of Mt. Meru Regional Hospital, launched the EAC International Women's website, and benefitted from various presentations and key note addresses on women's rights and gender equality. “International Women's Day is a time to reflect on the achievements that women in the EAC have attained in the last 20 years, as well as to identify the challenges that still impede their full potential,” said Hon. Jesca Eriyo, EAC's Deputy Secretary General, Productive and Social Sectors. “We recognise that women make a significant contribution towards the process of economic transformation and sustainable growth, and that is why we want to emphasise the importance of their effective participation, empowerment and development in EAC's integration process,” she said. ‘Make it Happen' stands as a global call for women and men to concretize Gender Equality, which is a follow up to the prepositions from the 20th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. Gender equality can only be attained when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities...

The United States Federal government has given business people and exporters in the East African Community (EAC) a first crack at imposing their will on the US market as part of Trade Africa Initiative. This is a chance for the EAC to show off what it can do. After all, the US chose East Africa first, probably because compared to other regions in sub-Saharan Africa, it is making far faster progress towards economic integration. We should play this card constantly to drum up large investment from the US in the future. As a key aspect of President Barack Obama’s Africa policy, the Trade Africa Initiative is supposed to be a partnership between the US and sub-Saharan Africa to increase internal and regional trade within Africa, and expand trade and economic ties among Africa, the United States, and other global markets. A notable sentiment said by Michael Froman, during the formal siging of the agreement with EAC representatives in Washington, was that the deal will the streamline customs process. It will also help African exporters meet global standards on food protections and reduce other technical barriers to trade. During its initial phase, Trade Africa aims to double intra-regional trade in the EAC, increase EAC exports to the US by 40%, reduce by 15% the average time needed to import or export a container from the ports of Mombasa or Dar es Salaam to land-locked Burundi and Rwanda in the EAC’s interior, and decrease by 30% the average time a truck takes...

NAIROBI, Kenya – Sitting in truck laden with parts of an oil rig, driver Opira Robinson, 45, rests his head on the steering wheel patiently waiting for customs clearing at Lungalunga, a Kenya-Tanzania border post in Kwale, about 101 kilometres south of Mombasa on the East African coast. He is moving the big rig from Pakwach in Northern Uganda heading for Tanzania’s coast. “I can’t wait to get out of here,” Opira says. “It took me a few hours to cross Malaba, but now I have been here two days already and it might take me two more weeks,” Opira said. At least 50 trucks cross through daily, according to Patrick Omare, the Kenya Customs station officer. The main commodities are Kenyan fruits and wheat exports – timber and maize imports from Tanzania. There is also Malawian tea headed for the Mombasa Tea Auction and some Zambian copper also going through the crossing. It is among 35 One-Stop-Border- Posts (OSBPs) that are under construction across the East African Community. The intention is to reduce delays and ensure faster cargo movement across the region. Money is being provided by the World Bank, African Development Bank and the Japan International Co-operation Agency. According to trade facilitation agency, Trademark East Africa (TMA) which is overseeing the posts. “They are aimed at reducing delays by allowing struck carrying goods to stop once, not twice,” said Frank Matsaert, the TMA Chief Executive Officer in an e-mail response to questions said. “Officials will share facilities on...

President Kenyatta said better infrastructure would also boost competitiveness and attractiveness of the economies and countries in the region. The President spoke in Kigali, Rwanda during the 9th Northern Corridor Integration Summit that brought together the host President Paul Kagame, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Salva Kiir of South Sudan. EAC chair and Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, Burundi 2nd Vice President Dr. Gervais Rufyikiri and Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Tedros Adhanom attended as observers. President Kenyatta won personal praise from Presidents Museveni, Kagame and Kiir for his reforms at the Mombasa port, which has fuelled faster movement of goods through the vital Mombasa regional lifeblood. President Kenyatta said EAC member countries’ efforts in eliminating congestion and delays in movement of goods and people will enable sharing of surplus milk and energy produced in Uganda and Tanzania respectively for regional prosperity. “The impact of better infrastructure on all sectors of EAC nations’ economies is substantial and positive. There is no need for outside import for goods and services produced locally within the EAC region,” The President said. He lauded the consistency, commitment and determination and deepening of commitment of the heads of state not only to the Northern Corridor Integration Projects and EAC integration, but also the regular meetings. “Every meeting we hold now takes our deliberation smoothly further ahead without need to reacquaint any of us with previous developments,” the President said. President Kenyatta said negotiations are at an advanced stage on the central corridor and others that link all the...