One of the narratives surrounding intra-African trade has been that neighbouring countries barely trade with one another. Yet commerce between Sub-Saharan African countries predates the colonial period, when traders, often belonging to the same ethnic or family group, crossed what are now borders to exchange goods and services. This legacy persists, even though for reasons that vary from trade barriers and regulatory compliance costs to infrastructure and behavioural constraints, most trade between neighbouring African countries is conducted by vulnerable, small, unregistered traders who choose this physically demanding work largely because they lack alternatives. According to the African Development Bank, this informal cross-border trade provides income for about 43 percent of Africa’s population. To discuss intra-African trade, one must consider its informality, the small size of the traders and the important role of women. Take the example of Mozambique and Malawi. An observation of bilateral trade data for the period of 2017-2020 shows that there was little or no trade between the two neighbours for agriculture produce such as sweet potatoes, cassava, groundnuts, cotton seed, tropical fruits and beans. A bus carrying cross-border traders at Mwanza border between Malawi and Mozambique But during the visits to border posts and markets across the Nacala and Beira corridors after the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw a considerable flow of such agricultural goods. This suggests that either officials on the two main trade routes linking the countries were not recording the transactions or that products cross the border in such small parcels that they need...

Wednesday, March 29, 2023: The Council of Ministers of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have adopted legal instruments to implement the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) once it enters into force. In its 5th meeting conducted virtually today, the Ministers adopted the instruments relating to trade and customs, namely the tripartite agreement on movement of businesspersons, annexes on elimination of import duties, trade remedies, rules of origin, dispute settlement mechanism and the TFTA protocol on competition policy. Further the Council adopted the guidelines, manuals and working procedures developed on rules of origin and technical barriers to trade, which comprise of sanitary and phytosanitary matters and non-tariff barriers. The other set of instruments adopted by the Council relates to road transport. They include Vehicle Load Management Agreement, Multilateral Cross Border Road Transport Agreement, Vehicle Load Management Model Law, Cross Border Road Transport Model Law,  Road Traffic Model Law, Road Traffic and Transport Transgression Model Law,  and Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Road Model Law. In adopting the road transport instruments, the Council applied the principle of variable geometry which allow Member States that are not ready to apply them, to do so when ready. This will provide room for discussions to continue at bilateral level while at the same time allowing those countries that are ready, to proceed with their implementation. With the adoption of these trade and transport facilitation instruments, focus now is on the ratification of...

Prosper Africa, a US Government initiative aimed at increasing two-way trade and investment between the US and African countries, has announced its sponsorship of the Africa Fintech Summit in 2023. The summit will be held in Washington DC on April 12, 2023, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The move comes after President Joe Biden launched the White House’s Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA) initiative, recognizing the growth potential of Africa’s technology sector. US Govt Seeks to advance fintech growth in Africa During the summit, Prosper Africa will join other US government agencies to engage with tech innovators, founders, and ecosystem players to showcase the full suite of US government services and resources to advance fintech growth and US-Africa investment. Prosper Africa will be officially launching the Tech for Trade Alliance at a special session during the summit. The alliance, which is made up of major US companies, aims to accelerate e-commerce and digital trade in Africa and address legal, regulatory, and logistical bottlenecks across the continent. Since launching Prosper Africa in June 2019, the US government has helped close 1100 deals across 49 countries for a total estimated value of $65 billion in two-way trade and investment. The Africa Fintech Summit has become the largest bi-annual financial technology gathering on the African continent since its first summit in 2018. The 9th edition of the summit will focus on US-Africa tech connections, fintech regulatory best practices, diaspora banking and remittance, African fintechs expanding globally, cross-border payment movements, use cases for...

Kenya and the United Kingdom have agreed to partner to secure jobs and increase trade between the two countries. Trade and Industry CS Moses Kuria and UK Minister for International Trade Nigel Huddleston held bilateral talks in London on the first-ever UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Council Meeting. Both parties agreed to accelerate work to remove barriers affecting bilateral trade and investment, working with respective public and private sectors. They discussed the progress made on the £3.5 billion of green investment deals which UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President William Ruto agreed to fast-track at COP27. The Economic Partnership Council meets once every two years as part of the UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which came into force in March 2021. The agreement ensures that all companies operating in Kenya, including British businesses, can continue to benefit from duty-free access to the UK market - saving exporters over Sh1.5 billion (£10m) every year in duties on products such as green beans and cut flowers. The agreement supports Kenya to grow its economy in a sustainable way, whilst providing UK businesses with increased trade opportunities. It secures jobs for Kenyans while enhancing Kenya’s global competitiveness, trade capabilities, and ability to attract investment. The EPA has benefited approximately 2,500 UK businesses exporting goods to Kenya each year, providing frictionless trade. British companies in Kenya employ more than 250,000 Kenyans. The UK is the first country outside of Africa to enter into a trade agreement with Kenya, the East African Community’s largest economy. UK-Kenya bilateral...

At dawn, many women across Africa make their way to their businesses. Some perch on the open backs of trucks loaded with agricultural produce to markets; others wear their high heels and suits as they head for offices in high-rise buildings. Irrespective of their working environments or workspaces (informal or formal), women contribute to the African economy and oil the economic engines of the continent. In fact, UN Women estimates that “70 per cent of informal cross-border trade in Africa is conducted by women traders.” However, women’s contribution to trade on the continent is yet to be maximized. While women’s involvement in the economy is a common sight, their control and ownership of the instruments of trade is another debate entirely. This is not strange. It can be seen as an extension of established cultural norms about traditional gender roles in many African societies. As the world celebrates International Women’s Month with the campaign theme, #EmbraceEquity, it is important to ask: How do women contribute to trade policies on the continent, especially with the advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)? How will the AfCFTA impact women entrepreneurs and traders on the continent? Everyone present at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues held in Ghana in January 2023 agreed on one thing: If properly executed, the AfCFTA will be the biggest free trade area in the world. It will open up African countries to more trading internally and externally. In the aftermath of the Dialogues, the outcomes of the convening have been presented...

Ugandan officials have confirmed that they too are ready to follow in the footpath of their East African Community (EAC) counterparts, Kenya and Rwanda, and start trading under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative which was officially launched in October 2022. The initiative launched in July 2022, sought to test the environmental, legal and trade policy basis for intra-African trade in a pilot phase that involved eight countries namely, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Tunisia, Tanzania and Rwanda. During a meeting in Kampala, Uganda, on Tuesday, March 21, the East Africa Business Council (EABC) Vice Chairperson, Simon Kaheru, said: “As Ugandan private sector we are ready to trade under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative and follow our counterparts from Rwanda and Kenya who have already started trading through the agreement.” “The Implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area is projected to increase Intra-African trade significantly, especially in manufacturing.” This was during the Private Sector Sensitization Workshop on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement on Trade in Goods Protocol organized by the EABC, the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU), and Uganda Manufacturers Association with support from GIZ as support to the bloc’s integration agenda. During a meeting in Kampala, Uganda, on Tuesday, March 21, the East Africa Business Council (EABC) Vice Chairperson, Simon Kaheru, said: “As Ugandan private sector we are ready to trade under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative and follow our counterparts from Rwanda and Kenya who have already started trading through the agreement.” “The Implementation of African Continental...

In Summary In Kenya, women make about 52 percent of the country’s population and about 30 percent of registered businesses are women-owned. A third of registered SMEs globally are estimated to have been created by women, and about 100million women run established businesses. More than 20,000 women traders from across East Africa will be benefit from a new platform that seeks to link them with the markets for their products. The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), Canada and Trademark Africa joint initiative will be undertaken through iSOKO, a platform designed to support women traders in accessing information and selling their produce. Obstacles ranging from limited access to credit facilities, labour and skill gaps, exclusion from key networks, as well as social and legal constraints often hit women. According to TradeMark Africa chief of programmes, Allen Asiimwe, women will now be able to identify the regions their markets are based to enable them make better business decisions. “So far we have reached 3,700 traders who have signed up but we look to reach 20,000 traders across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi being the first pilot by December of 2023,” said Asiimwe. However, the platform is yet to include a currency or mode of payment that cuts across the countries. The Secretary of Trade, in the Ministry of Trade, investments and Industry, Bruno Linyiru said Kenyan women traders face a number of challenges in accessing markets. These include lack of real time information on market prices, demand and...

TradeMark Africa (TMA) has launched a trading platform aimed at easing market and information access for women traders in East Africa after receiving $2 million (Sh261.8 million) in donor funds from the Canadian government through its philanthropy arm Global Affairs Canada. Dubbed iSOKO, the platform launched on Wednesday has been tipped to eliminate challenges that hurt operations for start-ups. The trade aid agency aims to hit 20,000 subscribed traders in the region by the close of this year. The e-commerce platform can be accessed through a mobile application, a website and a USSD code. Customers can view displayed commodities and business management where onboarded traders get to take charge of their sales through services such as bookkeeping and tracking orders. The trade aid agency said the platform is currently operational in five East African countries that include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi with at least 3,700 traders and 50 service providers have already signed up. In Kenya, the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) serves as the country host for the platform. “Through our county chamber and Women in Business arm, we have onboarded 2,650 users onto the platform with information on over 100 commodities uploaded. Of this number, 34 are service providers and 25 orders have been processed so far,” stated KNCCI President Richard Ngatia during the launch. Canadian High Commissioner to Kenya Christopher Thornley touted women's involvement in trade and development as keys to unlocking poverty reduction. "Having women at the centre of how we...

THE modernisation of the Beitbridge Border Post through a private-public-partnership arrangement at a cost of US$300 million has the ultimate goal of facilitating a one-stop border post, reducing congestion and monitoring leakages and smuggling making it a preferred and efficient port of entry, an official has said. In an interview, Matabeleland South Province’s Director in charge of Economic and Investment, Mr Richmond Ncube, said the Government was pursuing the idea of a wholesome one-stop border post at Beitbridge after its modernisation was complete. The border is one of Africa’s busiest land ports with an estimated 25 000 people and 500 trucks passing through it on a daily basis. “We are seriously pursuing the idea of a one-stop border post to enhance efficiency in the movement of goods and services as well as plug leakages and smuggling. But the ultimate goal is to improve the travellers’ convenience and experience by removing all the bottlenecks to trade and commerce as well as tourism,” he said. He says the upgraded Beitbridge border post has already unlocked major spinoffs in trade and tourism. It has enhanced greater regional integration and co-operation, as outlined in the Regional Infrastructure Development Strategy. The project is seen as a milestone achievement in the operationalisation of the Integrated Beitbridge Development Master Plan and stands out as one of the key infrastructure projects that has been implemented by the Second Republic. Since its upgrading which is done at a cost of US$300 million, it has facilitated the efficacy in the...

A Ugandan trade expert has differed from the food security report that calls on Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) to open up trade and reduce on high tariffs as a strategy to improve food insecurity. The report was launched at the Doha summit in Qatar on Monday during the summit by the International Trade Centre which is a joint agency with World Trade Organization and UN’s. In the report, it emphasizes that in order to build resilience to food trade shocks, improving food market access for food imports by LDC’s must be given a preference. “In the midst of food crises or price spikes, LDC’s can mitigate the impact on food availability and affordability by facilitating imports and re-evaluating remaining tariffs,” Pamela Coke-Hamilton, the ITC director noted. Joyce Megolonyo in Gulu main market selling cereals. SEATINI and Trademark Africa advocated for empowerment of such entrepreneurs to boost food security. However, Jane S Nalunga the Executive Director of the Southern and East Africa Trade information and negotiations Institute (SEATINI) said in the context of LDC’s trade is necessary in relation to importing machinery like tractors to aid them to grow their own food. Nalunga told New Vision in Doha that if LDC’s are importing value-added products then that is not viable as it's likely to paralyze the small-scale producers The SEATINI boss who was in Doha to deliberate on enhancing the participation of LDC’s in International trade and regional integration. “If we are to strengthen the local producers, there is a need...