Imagine you need to import machinery from China or India. Normally, you would need to take your shillings and exchange them for dollars prior to paying the supplier. A similar process would occur on the receiving end, with the dollars exchanged for the supplier’s currency. These multiple foreign exchange conversions, and the costs associated with this, have direct bottom-line implications for both the buyer and seller. To address this challenge, a new online foreign exchange and payments platform has launched in Kenya. Two weeks ago, UK-based Kwanji said it is setting up in the country to help importing businesses transfer money to overseas destinations directly and in under two days. With Kwanji, the person buying machinery in our scenario would only be required to present shillings that would then be exchanged for either Chinese or Indian currency and sent directly to the seller, removing double charges and making payment faster. Unrestricted access “Kwanji removes the double, or even at times triple, dip cost borne by buyers and sellers across the trade cycle,” said Amit Khosla, Kwanji’s principal business consultant for East and Central Africa. “Kwanji provides businesses with fast, secure and unrestricted access to the very best foreign exchange for all their payment and cash management needs.” Importers in Kenya, for instance, can send money to 200 countries in over 165 currencies. The system says it can save clients up to 95 per cent on forex charges against mainstream banks by linking them to brokers offering the best rates. This...

For 14 years now, the world has been trying to sign a deal that will balance the scales between rich and poor economies in the global marketplace. The negotiations to achieve this goal are moderated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) through the Ministerial Conference; a congress of ministers from 161 member states and representatives from dozens of economic blocs and customs unions that meets once every two years. Next month, the WTO Ministerial Conference will be holding its 10th meeting in Nairobi in its first ever sitting on the African continent. This is the first time that the WTO Ministerial Conference is being hosted on African soil. What does the agenda for the member states look like, even as the WTO celebrates 20 years Our 160-plus members have to agree on a package of actions, and timelines for which these actions are to be executed, and a key outcome would be to achieve something that would be of great benefit to developing countries. For 14 years we have been working on the Doha development agenda, and because of the changing circumstances geopolitically and economically, the conditions have changed. What we are hoping to do in Nairobi is to discover how we can recalibrate our agenda in the most realistic way possible so that we can deliver concrete outcomes that can help developing countries in general, and Africa in specific. Specifically, we are expecting to see an agreement signed that will remove all forms of direct subsidies to rich country...

The pace and efficiency of import cargo clearance at the various ports of entry is expected to improve following a move by the government to expand the list of goods inspected at the point of origin before shipment into the country. “Having more goods in the pre-shipment inspection arrangement is good for us because we will have lesser work here in terms of inspection. Goods shall be certified at the point of origin and shall only make confirmations when they arrive here,” Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) managing director Charles Ongwae said. Kebs and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Sunday said all goods shipped into Kenya will now be inspected at the country of origin under pre-export verification of conformity (PVoC) scheme as the government moves to eliminate tax losses at Kenya’s entry points and the flow of substandard goods. “The whole issue is not new, we have only expanded the list of items and products covered. Previously our focus was pre-shipment inspection of goods and products that have a direct impact on the health and safety of our people but with time everything we import has come to have an impact on health and safety in one way or another,” Mr Ongwae said. Only a handful of goods will be exempt from this requirement. These are raw materials for processing into finished products, spare parts for own use by manufacturers and customised machinery not meant for sale. “The pre-shipment inspection also has influence on the revenue side because...

Enligt FN:s världshandelsorganisation WTO finns det en stark koppling mellan ökad internationell handel, fler kvinnor i exportverksamheter och högre löner. Analyser av länderna i Östafrika pekar på att varje lands ekonomiska utveckling är direkt kopplat till kvinnornas företagande och till ökad handel med omvärlden.   Med stöd av den holländska regeringen och Kenyas utrikesminister Amina Mohammed, lanserade organisationen TMA nyligen "Women and Trade Programme" på 4,5 miljoner dollar fram till december 2016. Organisationen TMA eller Trade Mark East Africa arbetar för ett ökat välstånd i Östafrika genom ökad handel. Programmet riktar sig inledningsvis till 25 000 kvinnor och målet är att öka inkomsterna och förbättra försörjningen för kvinnor verksamma i handel samt i kvinnoägda företag. Arbetet fokuseras på att undanröja alla de formella och praktiska hinder som finns i samband med företagande och exportverksamhet vilket i sin tur kommer att ge Östafrikas kvinnor en tyngd och en mycket starkare röst i samhället.  I många afrikanska länder är kvinnor ofta småbönder som producerar till exempel majs, kassava, bomull och ris. Dessa kvinnor har en enorm potential för att bidra till ökad handel mellan de afrikanska länderna och med den globala marknaden. Under 2010 utgjorde kvinnor i utvecklingsländer 43 procent av arbetskraften inom jordbruket. Undersökningar visar att informell gränsöverskridande handel, som till stor del utförs av kvinnor, utgör en betydande del av den regionala gränsöverskridande handeln söder om Sahara. I Uganda står den informella exporten till de fem grannländerna för 231 700 000 dollar under 2006, vilket motsvarar 86 procent av Ugandas...

Recently, you reported that the latest World Bank Africa Pulse report placed Rwanda and Tanzania as rapidly growing economies at above 7%. This maybe source, but it still cannot explain why jobs are so hard to find, even for graduates. If growth is measured on jobs created then probably we may not be doing so well and something is wrong. Source: East African Business Week

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - The Sub-Saharan Africa economies continue to implement reforms to improve the business climate for domestic entrepreneurs, with members of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) particularly active during the past year, says the World Bank Group’s annual ease of doing business measurement.  The ‘Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency’ report, released last week, records a total of 69 reforms in 35 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of these, 14 of OHADA’s 17 member countries implemented 29 reforms. The report said reforms implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for about 30% of the 231 reforms implemented worldwide during the past year.  The report which was released by the World Bank last week said the region also boasted half of the world’s top 10 improvers, i.e. countries that implemented at least three reforms and moved up on the global rankings scale, with Uganda, Kenya, Mauritania, Benin and Senegal. “The region stood out in implementing reforms under the Getting Credit indicator. Of the 32 reforms made globally, 14 were carried out in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Kenya and Uganda making significant progress,” it stated. “Despite great improvements, governments in Sub-Saharan Africa will need to continue working on closing the gap in many key areas that impact the ease of doing business, especially increasing access to reliable electricity and providing effective commercial dispute resolution – two areas where the region scores the lowest globally,” said Rita Ramalho, Manager of the Doing Business project. On Getting Electricity,...

Kenya, as well as the other East African Community (EAC) countries, is fast emerging as an investment destination for multinational companies, following the establishment of a common market in 2010. The common market is attractive to investors because it currently has more than 153 million consumers. The European Union has been negotiating a bilateral agreement with the EAC — the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that could greatly impact the EAC market structure. Local firms stand to lose to foreign companies with greater capacity under the agreement in sectors such as agriculture, retail, horticulture, fisheries, textile and clothing, dairy, and meat if adequate safeguards are not established under the agreement. This brings to light the need to enhance a competitive economy within the EAC though the implementation of a regional competition law regime to protect consumers and small enterprises from unfair business practices. A competitive market would mean more choice, better quality and lower priced products for consumers, and easier market access for new firms. Moreover, it would mean that measures would be put in place to curb abuse of dominance, market sharing, and concentrated mergers and acquisitions by firms with substantial market share. The most effective way to achieve this would be for the EAC member states to enforce regional competition legislation and encourage the enactment of national competition laws and establishment of independent competition agencies. The EAC Competition Act, 2006 has already been ratified by member states, and national competition legislation enacted in all member countries except Burundi and...

Kampala. Organisations should invest more in mentoring women for top leadership position, says a senior United Nations official in Uganda.
Speaking at the fourth annual women leadership conference last week in Kampala, the United Nations Development Programme resident representative in Uganda, Ms Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie, said women are good at reforming and transforming organisations. She said investing in women is not just good for corporate businesses, but also good for growing economies around the world. 
“Invest in gender equity at work place. Institutions/companies that embrace gender diversity on their boards and in management often experience improved performance and profitability as a result,” she said. Source: Daily Monitor

A shipment of six more specialised locomotive engines for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and additional rails arrived at the port of Mombasa yesterday. The engines were loaded onto trucks from a ship for onward transportation to SGR construction sites at Mtito Andei and Emali in Makueni county. Portside Company general operations supervisor Taukil Said said his firm had been appointed by SGR’s contractor, China Roads and Bridges Corporation (CRBC) to handle the project cargo and ensure it was safely transferred on site. “We have received six locomotive engines and components from Mv Wulong Song and rails from Mv Falcon Bay,” he said. This is the second consignment of the locomotive engines with six more having arrived on September 20 from Beijing. The locomotive engines are to be used in laying the railway track and transporting project equipment as well as conducting test runs. Earthworks for the SGR project are 70 per cent complete. The laying of the tracks will start from two points—one from Mtito Adei to Mombasa while the other one will start at Emali to Nairobi. The Sh427 billion project is scheduled for completion in June 2017. It will carry freight trains at a speed of up to 80km/h and passenger trains at a maximum speed of 120km/h. Transporters from P N Mashru and Trans East Limited said they will deliver the locomotive engines to the sites in the next three to four days. P. N Mashru manager Abdulrazak Kiya said the three locomotive engines weighed 130...

Isiolo residents, led by their leaders, have accused the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor Authority of not consulting them on projects earmarked for the region. Residents said a team from the authority, accompanied by contractors and surveyors, visited Kambi-Garba and Checheles estates in Isiolo town three weeks ago, and allegedly placed beacons in settlement areas without having talked to them. At three separate meetings held in September and last month, residents and leaders said they were not opposed to the mega projects planned for the region, but wanted the authority to first go through the county government and enable public participation as spelt out in the Constitution. “The county government supports the Lapsset project, but those to be affected have to first be compensated. We also call for involvement of the locals in the process,’’ said Isiolo Governor Godana Doyo. “There is no way they can come here and get land for free.’’ He called on the residents to prepare themselves to benefit from the project, and asked them not to sell their land to speculators. Speaking during Mashujaa Day celebrations, the governor said the county government would not accept the projects planned for the region if residents are not told how they would benefit. “I want Nairobi to listen to this clearly. If we are not going to benefit from the international airport, the resort city and the Lapsset project, they should take them elsewhere,’’ he said. Satisfactory answers Speaking at a recent fundraising in Isiolo, Lapsset Corridor...