Hohoe, Oct. 16, GNA - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has released its second Trade Finance in Africa Survey Report tiled; “Trade Finance in Africa: Overcoming Challenges”. Building on the findings of the maiden 2013 survey, this new report, covering the period 2013–2014, goes further to gauge other aspects of bank-intermediated trade finance such as the challenges encountered by SMEs and first time trade finance clients. The report is, therefore, based on the combined data from the 2013 and 2015 surveys. It said the value of bank-intermediated trade finance in Africa in 2013 and 2014 was estimated at 430 billion dollars and 362 billion dollars respectively. Put differently, banks support about one third of total trade in Africa. “The share of bank-intermediated trade finance devoted to intra-African trade is still modest. In 2014, only 20 per cent of bank-intermediated trade finance was devoted to intra-African trade. This compares favourably to the estimated 18 per cent in 2011. Banks in East and Southern Africa reported the highest share (25 per cent) while those in North and Central Africa reported the lowest, around five per cent and four per cent respectively,” it said. The report noted that the value of the bank-intermediated trade finance gap in Africa remained significant at an estimated 91 billion dollars in 2014, although it had nudged down slightly from an estimated 94 billion dollars in 2013. Trade Finance continues to be a relatively low-risk activity for commercial banks in Africa, with estimated default rate transactions in 2011...

Onset of the short rains in the past month has seen the price of horticultural products fall, easing Kenyans’ pain on purchasing common foodstuffs. A survey released by the Food and Agriculture Authority (AFA) indicates high supply of carrots in the local markets saw prices fall from Sh4,797 for a 138-kilo sack for August to Sh3,593 in September. Spring onions also dropped from Sh3,110 to Sh2,262 reported during the same period for a 142-kilogramme sack while a 110-kilogramme sack of groundnuts went for Sh12,745 from Sh13,252. The report shows supply of sweet potatoes rose bringing down the price to Sh3,167 from 3,479 for a 98-kilogramme sack while cowpeas had a slight drop to Sh7,652 from Sh7,868 for a 90-kilogramme sack. A bunch of ripe bananas weighing 14 kilogrammes dropped to Sh661 in September from Sh966 in August. Avocado registered Sh2214 from Sh2,286. However, shortage pushed cucumbers to Sh2,750 from Sh2,319. The price of a 64-kilogramme crate of tomatoes is now selling at Sh6,200 from Sh5,756 in September. A 90kg bag of dry maize sells at Sh3,600 from September’s Sh3,390. Source: Daily Nation

In Rwanda, it's chagua. In Kenya, mitumba. In Zambia, salaula — most African languages have a word for the piles of discarded garments that end up for sale across the African continent. Millions of people around the world donate clothes annually with the understanding that they will go to the needy or will be resold in secondhand stores. However, while charities do financially benefit from some of the donated garments, many more enter a secondary marketplace governed by free market principles. A thriving and lucrative industry has emerged out of clothing outcasts that provide work for armies of resellers, distributors and market stall holders in developing markets like India or East Africa. But like any other business sector, there are winners and losers in this complex and booming trade. The average American throws away 70 pounds of textile waste every year, according to the Council for Textile Recycling, so diverting clothing away from landfills and giving it a new life may seem like a good idea. But the mass influx of cheap hand-me-downs from Western countries has had a negative impact on local apparel industries and production in low-income countries. Used clothing in good condition, which entered the supply chain as a donation, undercut new clothes produced locally. To this point, the governments of the East African Community (EAC) — the regional organisation that comprises of Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda — plans to outlaw all secondhand clothing imports by 2019, in a bid to boost domestic manufacturing. “Donating your used garments...

Non-stop flights between Kenya and the US could grow trade, tourism and the hotel sectors two-fold in the first year of commencement. According to Kenya’s Ambassador to the US Robinson Githae, direct flights will increase Nairobi’s cargo traffic and solidify trade between America and East Africa, with volumes of top exports such as fresh-cut flowers expanding exponentially. Mr Githae confirmed that all approvals for direct flights had been obtained from US aviation authorities, adding that national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) should now move fast to rework its route plan to include US cities. “We have attained all the approvals. What remains is for KQ to reorganise its routes and launch the inaugural flight,” he said in an interview with The Standard in the US. “Business entities and leaders are angling to be part of the inaugural flight to and from the US,” he added. Safety certification was issued by the US Office of International Aviation in February and effected on September 5, 2017, a move that has attracted the interest of top aviation players. Cancelled flights Eight years ago, Delta Airlines cancelled planned flights between Atlanta in the US and the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport through Dakar, Senegal, over security issues. Delta, together with KQ, are members of the Sky Team airline alliance. Githae said the lengthy travel time to the US and high cost of transporting produce via transit points such as Britain’s Heathrow and Holland’s Amsterdam airports would soon end. “Now, with direct flights, there will be enormous advantages. Kenyan flower exporters will no longer be subjected to ‘unnecessary’ levies at transit points. " Kenya is America’s 85th largest goods trading partner with $1.5 billion (Sh150 billion) in total trade. Goods exported totalled $937 million (Sh93.7 billion) while imports hit...

The World Bank Lead Economist and lead author of Africa’s Pulse, a bi-annual analysis of the state of African economies, Ms Punam Chuhan-Pole, said strong growth would offer prospects for increased trade and investments through more opportunities for exports and global financing. “Strong global growth will offer more opportunities for trade and investments... provides more alternatives for global financing where investors will look for more opportunities for financing,” she said in a video conference from Washington during presentation of the report which projected Sub-Saharan Africa would record modest economic growth recovery of 2.4 per cent in 2017 after the region grew by just 1.3 per cent in 2016. East Africa posted strong economic growth last year helping Africa to retain its position as the second-fastest growing continent globally despite a dismal growth. According to African Development Bank (AfDB), much of Africa’s growth in 2016 was driven by East Africa where sev eral countries recorded strong performances. Tanzania recorded 7.0 per cent growth, Kenya 5.8 per cent, and Rwanda and Uganda 5.9 per cent. And according to Global Economic Prospect report released recently, East Africa is projected to continue with robust economic growth where Ethiopia is forecast to expand by 8.3 per cent and Tanzania by 7.2 per cent. In its new Africa’s Pulse, a bi-annual analysis of the state of African economies, the World Bank however warns that the pace of the recovery remains sluggish and will be insufficient to lift per capita income in this year. Albert Zeufack, World...

Kenya’s drawn out election coupled with the political impasse is impacting negatively on the economy, threatening to have a spillover effect on the neighbours with whom it trades heavily. Latest market and economic data, with a few exceptions, such as tourism and horticulture paint a picture of an economy in suspense as the two political poles maintain hardline positions, whose negativity is already showing in the macro and micro sides of the region’s largest economy. The data from the Central Bank of Kenya’s Credit Survey released last month paints a gloomy picture as commercial banks lament how raised political risks have led to a tightening of credit and are jeopardising almost all economic sectors. Already, the banking sector’s loan book growth shrunk by 0.84 per cent in June from March’s two per cent, while the ratio of gross non-performing loans to gross loans increased from 9.5 per cent in March to 9.91 per cent in June, attributable to the challenging business environment. “This decrease in gross loans was mainly attributable to a reduction in loans granted to support the transport and communication, trade, agriculture, real estate, mining and quarrying sectors. Commercial banks expect an increase in the levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the third quarter of 2017 with 42 per cent of this expected rise in NPLs is attributed to the industry’s perceiving increased political risk ahead of the upcoming presidential election,” the banking regulator said. To the economy, this is bad news given the fact that economic growth...

The government has raised the alarm over illegal recruitment of personnel working for ships docking at the Mombasa port. The law requires that all persons who serve on board Kenyan ships and all seafarers of Kenyan nationality serving on board foreign ships must be hired or fired through the office of the Registrar of Seafarers. It also demands agents hiring seafarers be registered by the State. Maritime and Shipping Affairs Principal Secretary Nancy Karigithu says the hiring is a breach of the law. “The Act aims to guarantee the welfare of the seafarer while he/she is outside the jurisdiction of the Kenyan maritime administration, in terms of adequate wages, payment of those wages on a regular basis, hours of work and other social welfare minimums,” said Ms Karigithu. Any person who contravenes the law is liable to a fine of Sh100,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both. The government should have a record of the employment and the travel of the seafarers out of the country. The alarm comes amid increased traffic at the port of Mombasa, helped by increased efficiency after its handling capacity was expanded, drawing many shipping lines. The port handled 15 million tonnes of cargo between January and June compared with 13.4 million in similar period last year. The port, a major trade gateway to east Africa, handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The improvement came despite uncertainty...

DEVISING a regional science, technology and innovation (STI) policy is among key priorities of Kigali-based East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO) this year. The EASTECO executive secretary, Gertrude Ngabirano, said this last week after the Permanent Secretaries of Ministries responsible for East African Community Affairs visited the institution’s headquarters to discuss its strategic plan and priority programmes. Ngabirano said they have four priority areas with the first dealing with putting in place education-based policies at the regional level. “This year, we will be working on a regional STI policy. In the short run, for example, we’ll be working on putting in place a regional intellectual property rights policy,” she said, emphasising the importance of the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. “We will also be working on a regional knowledge management framework involving establishment of electronic data bases. For example, recent research can be availed so that the public knows what research has been done and people who are interested can build on what is already in place.” EASTECO is a semi-autonomous institution of the EAC mandated to promote and coordinate the development, management and application of science, technology and innovation in partner states. Ngabirano said the commission’s work is in response to the fact that regional students’ enrollment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is on the decrease as compared to other fields of study. STEM is normally more expensive, she noted, and there is a need to invest more in laboratories and...

The Kenya Ports Authority has reported a decline in import cargo at the Mombasa port in the past week up to October 4. The management said in its latest data that local containerised imports through the port stood at 2,483 twenty feet equivalent units (TEUs), a decline of 1,108 TEUs from the previous week. The decline could be attributed to muted business activities in the country, with many investors employing a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the October 26 repeat presidential election after the nullification of the August 8 vote outcome in which President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner. Bulk clinker was the leading import commodity, with 103,731 tonnes having been brought in through the port. It was followed by bulk wheat and bulk sugar, which registered 70,241 tonnes and 25,691 tonnes respectively. Other leading commodities included 14,698 tonnes of bulk fertiliser, 8,348 tonnes of bagged sugar, 5,841 tonnes of project cargo, and 5,260 tonnes of bulk sorghum. The general cargo terminal also handled 3,000 units of imported motor vehicles and 129 trucks. ‘’A total of 14 container vessels went alongside the container terminals, recording a ship average working time of 2.02 days as container dwell time registered 4.53 days,’’ said Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in a statement. Transit-bound containerised cargo, however, increased by 12TEUs during the week under review to stand at 5,591TEUs. Uganda, the traditional transit market leader, registered 4,477TEUs, representing 80 per cent of traffic, followed by South Sudan with 361TEUs, which was an increase of 126TEUs...

The commercial enterprise of U.S. companies selling used clothing to African countries doesn’t seem a likely source of controversy, but the issue has become one of contention on two continents. The East African countries of Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Burundi have been trying to phase out imports of secondhand clothing and shoes over the last year. The countries claim the enterprise undermines their efforts to build domestic textile industries and they want to impose an outright ban by 2019. In March, the Office of the United States Trade Representative threatened to remove four of the six East African countries included in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, a preferential trade deal intended to lift trade and economic growth across sub-Saharan Africa. Burundi and South Sudan, gripped by upheaval, had already been expelled from the trade deal because their governments were accused of perpetrating state violence. Across Africa, secondhand merchandise is the primary source of clothing. Rwanda has said it is seeking to curb the import of secondhand clothes, not only on the grounds of protecting a nascent local industry, but also because it says wearing hand-me-downs compromises the dignity of its people. Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame said that the region should go ahead with the ban even if it meant sacrificing some economic growth. “We have to grow and establish our industries,” Kagame said in June. “This is the choice we find that we have to make. We might suffer consequences. Even when confronted with difficult choices, there is...