Lately, there has been a growing number of Danish companies doing business in Kenya - from patrons enjoying Danish beer Carlsberg, shipping firm Maersk delivering cargo to port of Mombasa and Vestas supplying towering turbines to Lake Turkana Wind Power project. The Business Daily spoke to Danish ambassador to Kenya Mette Knudsen on the trade and cultural relations between the two countries. How do Danish people and businesspersons view Kenya? Kenya has the closest ties to Denmark. This is because of Karen Blixen – all Danes know about her. Therefore, there’s affinity between Kenya and Denmark. Kenya is a vibrant place. The business sector is one of the most dynamic in Africa. A lot of Danish companies and investors are certainly interested in this market. There has been high growth rates, increased investments in infrastructure, good information technology uptake, highly educated population and an entrepreneurial spirit. The Kenyan market gets even more important when it is seen as a part of a bigger bloc and gateway to East African Community. Since 2011 when the embassy opened the Trade Council in Kenya, which Danish companies have entered the market or increased investment? There are more than 50 Danish companies which are engaged in Kenya. A lot of our largest companies are active here. Maersk Group, specifically the shipping line business, is responsible for a large portion of the trade at the port of Mombasa. Maersk entered Kenya in 1994 and has an office in Mombasa and Nairobi, and also offers shipping...

An East African summit for formal retail operators on Thursday called for adoption of e-commerce to avert an ‘Uber’ effect on their businesses. Speaking at Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel in Nairobi, Uchumi Supermarket chief executive Julius Kipng’etich and Nakumatt’s regional strategy and operations director, Mr Ramamurthy Thiagarajan, said operators must closely monitor consumer preferences to guide their future engagements with their clients. “To say you have 30 years experience in running a supermarket could be the fatal pill for your business since now we have tablets, the Internet and mobile phones that are used to communicate and also make payments,” said Mr Kipng’etich. Mr Thiagarajan said Nakumatt had made major inroads in studying customer trends, where it realised that 67 per cent of its clients were repeat shoppers who enjoy patronising specific stores and purchasing certain items. “This has helped us sell ourselves as a brand aggressively across our branches in East Africa - Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, since people believe we will always have what they are looking for,” he told the gathering. EMERGING TRENDS The summit, convened to look into emerging trends in East Africa, heard that online stores were fast moving into the region where young shoppers prefer to go on the web and compare prices before placing orders for the select items. Retail Traders Association of Kenya chief executive Wambui Mbarire called on retailers to join the association to enhance their bargaining power on policy and taxation issues, adding that the sector had emerged as...

ADDIS ABABA - In a bid to show solidarity and promote free movement of Africans within their region and other parts of the continent, African heads of states are to carry an African passport for the next African Union Summit to be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, in July. The heads of states will receive the African passport since the AU wants to popularise it as it is very symbolic and significant for the continent, as well as practical, because if one is carrying an African passport he/she should not be expected to apply for a visa, according to Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission. “A few of us at the AU are already using that passport within Africa and it is very useful, but we want the heads of states to carry it when they are visiting African countries to make it official and known to others as well,” she said. Africa’s attempt to address this situation has seen free movement show up in continental development strategy documents since the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action and the 1991 Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (AEC), commonly known as the Abuja Treaty. Abuja committed African states to “adopt, individually, at bilateral or regional levels, the necessary measures in order to achieve progressively the free movement of persons, and to ensure the enjoyment of the right of residence and the right of establishment by their nationals within the community”” The chairperson also said that all African countries must give...

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is ranked third in regional integration out of eight regional economic communities assessed by the Africa Regional Integration Index – Africa’s first effort to measure progress on regional integration. The Africa Regional Integration Index Report launched recently in Addis Ababa, is the result of a collaboration between the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC); and follows calls for systematic measurement of regional integration. On a scale of 0 to 1, ECOWAS came third with a score of 0.509, behind the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which scored 0.531, and the East African Community (EAC) which came first with a score of 0.540. The Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) came fourth with 0.459, followed by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the horn and its western area, with 0.457; and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in sixth, scoring 0.454. The joint research also examined integration in two wider regional blocs: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which cuts across North-Eastern, East, Central and Southern Africa, and includes some member countries of the UMA, IGAD, ECCAS and SADC; and the Community of Sahel Saharan States (CEN-SAD) made up of ECOWAS and some North, Central and East African states (from UMA, ECCAS and IGAD). COMESA scored 0.415 and CEN-SAD, 0.395. Regional integration in the report was measured using 16 indicators in five dimensions: trade integration, productive integration, free...

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the European Commission will hold their annual College-to-College meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 7 April. This is the biggest political EU-Africa meeting of the year. The Africa-EU Strategic Partnership is the formal channel through which the European Union and the African continent work together. It is enshrined in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES): a partnership of equals, determined to tackle together issues of common concern. Adopted by Heads of State and Government at the second EU-Africa Summit in 2007, the JAES is the first and only intercontinental partnership strategy of the EU. The current Roadmap 2014-2017 sets out concrete targets within five priority areas of cooperation agreed at the 4th EU-Africa Summit in 2014: Peace and Security Democracy, Good Governance and Human Rights Human Development Sustainable and Inclusive Developmental Growth and Continental Integration Global and Emerging Issues EU-Africa Relations Several cooperation frameworks govern EU cooperation with Africa, among which (i) the Cotonou Agreement with Sub-Saharan Africa, (ii) Euro-med Partnership with North Africa and the European neighbourhood policy, (iii) and the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. These frameworks include political, economic and development aspects. Africa is the main recipient of collective EU (EU and its 28 Member States) Official Development Assistance (ODA). Approximately €141 billion were allocated between 2007–2013. The EU's development cooperation with Africa is channelled through different financial instruments, of which the European Development Fund (EDF) is the most important. Between 2014-2020, total European Commission's ODA allocations for Africa will amount to over €31...

The UK government will increase support for local infrastructure projects so that more British firms clinch lucrative deals in planned and ongoing constructions. British High Commissioner to Kenya Nic Hailey yesterday said his country is banking on a Sh74 billion fund set aside by export credit agency, UK Export Finance, to jump-start its renewed investment efforts in Kenya. The kitty will be set up under a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed in the “next few weeks”, he said. The fund will be used to provide loans for UK firms to boost their ability to export to Kenya. “Both countries have agreed on the MoU and we expect to sign it anytime depending on availability of Kenya’s ministers and government officials,” Hailey said. Hailey was speaking after the signing of a partnership between the UK Export Finance and the African Trade Insurance agency yesterday. ATI will offer UK exporters enhanced access to growing markets in Kenya and the East Africa. As an ATI member, UKEF will get updates on new business opportunities for exporters, as well as local knowledge of firms and projects. The move, Hailey said, will boost the UK government efforts in encouraging more UK businesses to trade with African countries. Sectors targeted by UK firms in Kenya include infrastructure, advanced engineering, energy, ICT and defence, and security. “British companies are eyeing major projects such as roads, pipeline, renewable energy and port, so we are keen in increasing investments and trade with Kenya,” Hailey said. ATI chief executive...

Kenya is fast cementing its reputation for remarkable economic growth. With GDP growth averaging well above 5% for the 12 months to September 2015, impressive improvements in government finances, and falls in oil prices significantly reducing its imports bill, the future is bright for Kenya. The East African Community (EAC) as a whole is emerging as a beacon for trade. It contains fast-developing economies, and last year’s introduction of a single customs territory is already benefiting cross-border commerce. Foreign investment into sub-Saharan Africa grew last year, notably from diaspora communities, and Barclays’ Africa Trade Index identified East Africa as the trade hub to watch. With favourable economic conditions comes an expanding domestic market; and entrepreneurs are increasingly stepping up to meet this demand. The region’s growing reputation for entrepreneurship goes hand-in-hand with its ambitions for infrastructure development. Any entrepreneur will rely on digital, energy, and transport infrastructures. The World Bank estimates the impact of Africa’s infrastructure gap on productivity as 40%, leading to a 2% drop in growth. Fast-growing economies like Kenya’s require infrastructure that keeps pace with business growth. The UK is a global leader in many of the sectors for which Kenya has greatest demand: infrastructure, advanced engineering, energy, ICT and defence and security. In these and other specialist areas, UK expertise can help accelerate Kenya’s development and economic growth. Increasingly, financing and risk insurance for large-scale infrastructure projects across the world come from international export credit agencies. For example, loans used to fund projects may be guaranteed...

The Tanzania business community is gradually increasing its use of the Port of Mombasa citing too many bureaucracies at Dar-es-Salaam port. An importer said Tanzanians are afraid of using their own port because of strictness, “where port management is afraid of making decisions for fear of annoying the presidency”. The Tanzania Ports Authority staff are reportedly wary of an action by President John Magufuli, who sacked four senior officers including director general Awadhi Massawe and the authority’s board chairman Joseph Msambichaka in December. The purge, said to “root out corruption and inefficiency at the port” saw at least 25 people sacked, including eight middle-level managers. The slow decision-making has since been blamed for bureaucracies at the port handing over a brisk business to Mombasa, which is already clearing goods destined for Tanzania through the Single Customs Territory. “More Tanzanian traders are now using Mombasa port to import their wares,” another importer told the Star. The Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association confirmed increased activities in clearing cargo destined for Tanzania. “Things have changed because of the new systems in place which have made importing through Mombasa faster and better. People are coming to Mombasa,” Kifwa chairman for Mombasa region, Eric Gitonga said in a telephone interview. The East Africa Online Transport Agency said its Tanzanian clients and investors are on a wait-and-see situation. “Uncertainty in Tanzania’s political environment is one of the issues coming up in regional forums currently. People are slowing down on investments and imports in Tanzania,” said...

Africa, it is often said, is a continent that leapfrogs various intermediary stages of technology. From fixed to mobile telephony, Africa leapfrogged the usual phases of technological advancement. It does not come as a surprise, therefore, that on a global level, the East African Community is one of few regional blocs that have scrapped mobile roaming charges. And this is just the beginning. Introduced in October 2014, the One Network Area aims to harmonise tariffs on mobile voice calls, SMS and data transmission within the EAC. Today, roaming charges between Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda have been removed, making all mobile calls between the three countries local. This has led to a minimum 400 per cent increase in the volume of calls — a direct benefit to EAC citizens and African businesses operating across the region’s borders. Previously, making calls across the EAC was more expensive than calling Europe, America or Asia. The second phase of the ONA initiative is underway, with telecom operators revising SMS and data charges downwards. Rwanda began this process in August 2015, and the idea is to have a truly integrated regional bloc with all mobile telephony barriers removed. Compare this with older and more advanced regional blocs in the West or in Asia. The European Union for example, only recently voted new rules that will scrap mobile roaming charges — a reality that will happen in 2017. This has taken the EU almost a decade of negotiations and an interim cap on roaming charges is...

Kenya will start building a new offshore crude oil and refined fuel jetty in October. The jetty is expected to increase efficiency in delivery of imported refined fuel for Kenya’s domestic use and export to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) plans to build the jetty near Dongo Kundu from October to December 2019 to handle larger tankers and relocate existing Kipevu Oil Terminal from Port Reitz. READ: Kenya to move oil terminal, double capacity in Nairobi KPA head of procurement Yobesh Oyaro said Denmark-based Niras will supervise building of the new terminal to replace the existing facility near berth 19 container terminal. He said relocation from Port Reitz to an offshore site will to allow offloading of tankers with a capacity of 170,000 tonnes to improve port efficiency and meet the region’s growing demand for refined oil products. The new island terminal will have four berths capable of facilitating import as well as export of crude oil, heavy fuel oil, dual purpose kerosene, diesel and petrol. The terminal is expected to make Mombasa sea port a major trading hub. The terminal will have a crude oil pipeline connecting it with the Changamwe-based Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL). Early production of waxy oil found in South Lokichar basin, is set to start in June 2017, entails use of the road to Eldoret and rail transport to KPRL in Mombasa for storage ready for export. The new island terminal will have four other...