A Sh1.6 billion ($16 million) grant-based fund that supports innovators and entrepreneurs working in the logistics and transport sector has opened entries for its second phase. Logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT) Challenge Fund will provide grants ranging from Sh15 million ($150,000) to Sh100 million ($1,000,000) to winning proposals from innovators across the world, whose project ideas will be implemented in East Africa. LIFT is a TradeMark Africa initiative managed by Nathan Associates through a fund management team based in Nairobi. It is financially supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It seeks to trigger and introduce innovative approaches to tackling freight and transport costs in the East African Community (EAC). TradeMark Africa CEO Frank Matsaert asked innovators to apply saying the challenge had enabled stakeholders to test new ideas that should reduce the cost and transport time in the EAC. “It is our hope that the entrepreneurs and innovators of the East African Community in partnership with their counterparts internationally will drive forward development through the adoption or introduction of ‘best practice’ technologies in the transport and logistics sector, enabling local businesses to compete favourably in the increasingly global economy,” said Mr Matsaert. LIFT Challenge Fund manager David Mitchell said the initiative’s impact to local entrepreneurs had been positive. “The Challenge Fund instruments fill a significant gap in the financial support needs of private businesses and the innovators that drive business activity to greater results and efficiencies,” said Mr Mitchell. Businesses in the transport and logistics sector, or...

Lack of skills and capacity among clearing and freight forwarding agents has been blamed for trade hurdles across the East African region, a new survey shows. The survey by TradeMark Africa (TMA) established that 477 clearing agents in the region had not been trained on improving trade logistics. This means that freight forwarding firms continue to incur costs such as fines imposed when clearing agents make errors on systems. The TMA survey conducted between 2011 and 2014 estimated that companies could save Sh38,500 annually if they employ trained clearing agents. TMA chief executive Frank Matsaert said business prosperity is achieved when there is a trade flow. “By training key people in the freight forwarding business, we are helping move goods quicker, save time and money and help the region develop,” he said. He said the survey was based on the premise that freight forwarders and clearing agents lacked necessary skills and capacity in clearing cargo at border points which resulted to an increase in cargo clearance costs and cargo release times. It was implemented by the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) in conjunction with the East Africa Revenue Authorities (EARA). A total of 4,023 out of 4,500 freight forwarders and clearing agents were trained during the programme that sought to seal some skills gaps. The highest number of graduates in the programme were from Kenya, 1,665, while Tanzania had 1,218. Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi had 717; 299 and 164 graduates respectively. The survey projected an 84 per...

As traders rue missed opportunities relating to Uganda choosing Tanzania over Kenya on the pipeline route, other initiatives are going on to spur intra-trade in East African. Hopefully, the recent initiative by Kenya and Uganda supported by a number of global and regional bodies to create a common platform for facilitating cross-border trade in fish and fishery products, using Busia Border point will succeed. Many times, the cumbersome and punitive inspection protocols for animal, human and plant products across the countries, which have different requirements and standards, has made it difficult for intra trade between the two countries. Uganda has a bigger supply for fish products, which on many occasions go to waste, while traders in Kenya face a huge domestic demand for fish products for local and export consumption cannot access because of stringent standards and different trade regimes within the two countries. To ease the cross border trade in fish and fish products, that will allow increased intra trade within the two countries, and by extension, export to other countries, a number of activities and facilities are to be established at the Busia border point that will provide quick inspection of human, animal and plant products health both at and behind borders. The pilot is among the several initiatives being implemented by partners in the business community as a way of increasing the level of intra trade volumes in Africa including: the EAC has developed the regional sanitary and phytosanitary standards, (SPS) the Inspectors’ guide; standard Operating Procedures;...

The top African trade show - which was held from May 7 to 9 - at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre (Durban ICC), exploded with originality and creativity of the Africa’s wealth of cultural appeal, tourism natural attractions, services and products. In the media talk facilitated by the CNN New York based news anchor Richard Quest, African tourism ministers acknowledged the need to consult and engage one another to work on the bulk of issues which hinder tourism penetration. African ministers led by Hanekom added a strong voice on how Africa countries can come together to position themselves as tourism business collaborators and promote inbound tourism in which huge opportunities have largely not been exploited. “If one quarter of African countries were to implement the open skies for Africa decision  and facilitate great air connectivity between our countries - additional jobs (job creation) and an added GDP that could be generated with obvious numerous benefits for tourism in many countries, said Derek Hanekom, South African’s tourism minister. Hanekom said that many major airlines fly to Africa from North America, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. However, once visitors reach this continent they encounter difficulties in connectivity as well as exorbitant air fares from country to country. He said that air transport services in Africa remained a critical constraint. Hanekom, who was one of the three panelist’ tourism experts who attended the media talk including ministers from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Seychelles, Swaziland, Burkina Faso and Ghana. “Africa’s...

This was revealed here on the side-lines of the Indaba, Africa’s largest tourism trade show by the CEO’s of Tourism Board from Tanzania Ms. Devota Mdachi and Kenya’s Acting CEO, Ms. Jacinta Nzioka, and Uganda’s UTB Acting Marketing Manager, Ms. Sylvia Kalembe. “While we expect a significant growth of International arrivals this year, regional markets remains a potential segment that we are happy with the response of the Indaba trade show”, said  Devota Mdachi, Tanzania Tourist Board’s Managing Director. Tanzania was represented by nearly 40 exhibitors showcasing different tourism services and products from travel agents, tour operators and hospitality industry stakeholders.  Devota said the show exposed the growth of interest for Tanzania destination from different stakeholders including hosted buyers. Intra-Africa tourism business, according to Devota, is rising with many visitors visiting Tanzania from the African continent, particularly from South Africa. Some of key investments in the lodges and hotels in Tanzania are run and managed by South African companies, one of the pull factors, according to her. Zanzibar, the Serengeti national park Mount Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro crater dominated most of the enquiries while some shown interest in the Ruaha and Katavi national parks in the Southern Tanzania. Of interest to some enquiries, Devota said was the Kigamboni new bridge which opens up tourism beaches in the administrative and commercial capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania stand was graced with visits by different media houses based in and out of Africa including Richard Quest, the CNN news anchor who...

Trade is a basic economic commodity that activates and improves people’s socio-economic livelihoods. To increase competitiveness and spur regional economic growth, quality control and checking are pivotal. Standards, testing, conformity and assessment processes have been frequently mentioned as barriers to trade. East African countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and now the rookie member, South Sudan — are addressing these barriers with the aim of increasing intra-EAC trade. Proper testing and certification increases the speed at which goods are traded across borders, ensures conformity assessment certificates are accepted, reduces rejection of goods and minimises costs. This is where the TradeMark Africa-supported Standards Harmonisation and Conformity Testing Programme comes in. The programme was launched in 2011 to help the East African National Standards Bureaus achieve regional harmonisation of standards and improve testing capacities, thereby improve trade competitiveness. So far, there are 70 new harmonised standards. Also, a 59 per cent testing cost reduction and 74 per cent average testing time reduction have been achieved across the East Africa Community bureaus of standards respectively. An analysis of volumes and values of intra- and extra-EAC trade of sampled products that the programme supported, indicates a growth trajectory — a 144 per cent increase in intra and extra EAC trade (from $857,997 in 2010 to $2,094,748 in 2014). The programme has also achieved clear results on market access requirements and certification of locally manufactured products by small and medium enterprises, particularly in Kenya. There has been a 194 per cent increase in the...

Making access to visas easy or scrapping the requirement entirely is an important way governments can help promote tourism and trade among the nations of the continent, according to the African Development Bank (ADB). The ADB has developed the Africa Visa Openness Index to assess which countries have the most open and efficient visa access. The bank says cumbersome visa procedures undermine doing business across borders on the continent. On average, travel within the continent is often difficult because African nations are “more closed off to each other than open” the ADB said in its 2016 report (pdf) on visa access. “Free movement of people is not a reality across Africa.” Most require visas in advance The report said only 20 percent of the 55 countries in the index do not require visas and only 15 percent offer visas on arrival, meaning more than half require visitors to obtain visas in advance. To make matters worse, the report said, many of Africa’s strategic hubs have restrictive visa policies while the continent’s small, landlocked and island states tend to be more open to promote trade links with neighboring countries. The report said countries in West and East Africa tend to be more open than in other regions. The top 10 nations for openness stand out, with an average score of 0.86 (out of 1) on the ADB index, more than double the overall average of 4.25. Seychelles is first for openness The top 10 countries are Seychelles, Mali, Uganda, Cape Verde,...

African economies must reduce trade barriers and make it easier for people and goods to cross borders to boost growth in the face of headwinds from a commodity price drop, African officials and delegates at the World Economic Forum in Rwanda said. The International Monetary Fund said average growth in sub-Saharan Africa would fall to its lowest in nearly two decades this year, at 3 percent, with commodity exporters struggling and government finances coming under pressure. "As we develop the regional markets in Africa, we’ll reduce the susceptibility of Africa to these global commodity price shocks," African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina told a news conference in the Rwandan capital Kigali. Trade between African nations accounted for just 11 percent of total transactions, compared with Asia where regional trade accounted for 40 percent and Europe where it was 70 percent. Adesina said there were some positive signs - Africa-to-Africa investment had climbed, rising from $10 billion to $50 billion a year - although he didn't give a time frame. But he said high tariffs and non-tariff barriers such as poor roads, railways and ports hindered progress. "If there were a real willingness to dismantle trade barriers, you could get growth gains regardless of what was happening in the rest of the world because of broader markets," said Razia Khan, Africa economist at Standard Chartered Bank. While there are several trading blocs in Africa, few have acted swiftly to completely dismantle barriers to commerce, though the six-member East African Community...

African economies have changed and trade relations need to evolve since the U.S. first started offering duty-free access to certain countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a Bloomberg interview. Since AGOA first started in 2000, African economies have become more integrated and they’ve changed in terms of demographics, development and technology, Froman said in Kigali, Rwanda, at the World Economic Forum. A deadline is looming for Froman’s office to update Congress on sub-Saharan African countries that want to negotiate free-trade agreements with the U.S., Politico reported. The U.S. is consulting with African officials, business leaders and regional experts on what should happen next. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 1 percent of U.S. trade in 2015, according to Bloomberg. When AGOA was renewed in 2015 for 10 years, Congress mandated a progress report and re-evaluation of the overall trade and investment relationship between the U.S. and sub-Sahara by June 29, the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the bill into law. “It’s time to start looking at what comes next,” Froman told Bloomberg. “Part of what motivates us is that we are hearing from Africans that they want to move towards a more permanent, reciprocal kind of relationship.” Many in Congress have grown tired of extending one-way trade preferences to Africa without gaining reciprocal access for U.S. goods, Politico reported. The U.S. started free-trade talks with South Africa and other members of the Southern African Customs Union in 2003, but never reached a deal....

A new action agenda to help African economies improve their economic competitiveness has been published by the World Economic Forum, the African Development Bank, OECD and the World Bank. The agenda comes at a time when shocks such as low commodity prices and a strong US dollar have highlighted the region’s chronic lack of competitiveness and the need for urgent diversification. Africa’s competitiveness challenges are well known and have been highlighted in the Forum’s “Africa Competitiveness Report” series since 1998. In a quest for long-term solutions to this chronic challenge, the four partners staged a series of high-level competitiveness workshops across Africa’s regional economic communities (RECs) between October 2015 and April 2016 with the aim of prioritising actions available to leaders. The resulting “Action Agenda for Raising Africa’s Competitiveness” synthesises more than 120 recommendations of more than 200 participants from government, business, academia, international organisations and civil society from across the East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and francophone North Africa. Across all regions, two elements were emphasized by participants: * Better public and private collaboration can be achieved by increasing levels of trust, establishing regular channels of collaboration and consultation, agreeing on a shared vision and working towards shared goals. * Greater regional integration can improve competitiveness and growth by opening markets, leveraging economies of scale, lowering costs and increasing the diversity of goods and services. Partners collaborated with the Rwanda Development Board and Brand South Africa for...