Standard Bank is hosting the East Africa Trans-Regional Conference in Kenya, Nairobi from 11 to 14 April 2016 to facilitate business development between clients from the East Africa region and South Africa. Targeted at clients who have an interest in expanding their operations or partnering with businesses within the East Africa region, the conference will provide delegates with an overview of commerce and industry in East Africa, while presenting opportunities for access to the market and business development. Over three days, seventy of Standard Bank’s business banking clients from, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa will take advantage of networking opportunities in a guided and informative environment. Dr Manessah Alagbaoso, Head of Commercial Banking at Standard Bank Rest of Africa says this is the first of a series of inter-Africa trade conferences aimed at facilitating business development. “The event underlines our commitment as Standard Bank to create effective partnerships for our clients in the region and across the continent.” Dr Alagbaoso adds that it was critical for Standard Bank, in its commitment to intra-regional, to create additional value for business banking clients by assisting them to identify services they could access, match them with much needed expertise and provide financing solutions. Standard Bank, as Africa’s largest bank, has an established and on-the-ground presence in East Africa. “We are committed to the East Africa region as indicated by our established presence in Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and recent expansion into Ethiopia. Our sector expertise and in-depth local knowledge...

The East African Community (EAC) is now successfully asserting itself as a regional trading bloc. Trade volume may have increased but dreams of monetary union are still far-fetched. Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (front L3), Rwanda's President Paul Kagame (R3), Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta (R2) and the host Tanzania's President John Magufuli (C) attend the 17th EAC Heads of State Summit in Tanzania's northern city of Arusha, March 2, 2016 Photo by: Xinhua "Between 2005 and 2014, trade within the East African Community (EAC) increased by 300 percent," Dirk Smelty, business consultant with the Tanzanian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture told DW. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda formed the EAC in 2000 and introduced a customs union five years later. Burundi and Rwanda joined the union in 2007. The customs union is promoting trade and is going from strength to strength. The EAC reported that in 2005 Kenya recorded imports worth $3.5 million (3.8 million euros)and exports valued at 5.8 million dollar. By 2014 imports had doubled to $6 million and exports tripled to $18.3 million. Uganda also doubled its exports in the same period and its imports nearly tripled. Tanzania however made the biggest leap by quadrupling its exports. Trade in Rwanda and Burundi however remained low. Chinesen bauen Straßen in Kenia Several EAC projects still remain unfinished due to logistical challenges The three driving forces: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda According to Smelty, trade within the EAC is mainly benefiting countries with stronger economies including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. "Kenya...

Convenience at minimum cost is a leading consideration for investors looking for new locations to set up enterprises. Around the world, industrial parks have become the popular vehicle for countries to provide a competitive environment for industries to take off. Technically, an industrial park is a geographically delimited area, intended for the settlement of industrial plants with proper location, infrastructure, equipment and services conditions, and with a permanent administration for its operation. Recently, Uganda announced that it is setting up 22 new industrial parks around the country. This is commendable if the government does not go back on its word by failing to put in place the basics needed to attract both local and foreign investors. It is going to be expensive, but will pay off in the long run if it is done right. All the Tiger Nations of East Asia developed industrial parks during the 1980s and early 1990s which helped attract investment especially from Japan. South Korea started in the 1960s. The government at the time adopted a strategy of concentrating industries in regions with high growth potential, rather than dispersing investments nationwide, in consideration of the country’s limited financial resources. The policy has worked out well as reflected in South Korea’s spectacular growth. Note, this is the country with the highest internet penetration in the world. Today, industrial parks are the industrial/manufacturing hubs that drive the economies of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. For the East African Community (EAC) to take advantage of a similar...

Khartoum’s letter to Arusha seeking a place in the EAC returned with negative response with the country being politely told that, in order for Northern Sudan or any other African state to be allowed in the regional bloc, it must share a common border with any of the existing member states, that is Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania or Burundi. Last month’s admission of South-Sudan to the Arusha Pivoted East African Community now paves way its neighbour, further north at Khartoum to also be considered to become the seventh member of the community which was revived back in 1999, but as of now it is all silent at the community secretariat here. It was actually North Sudan, headquartered at Khartoum which was first to apply to be allowed to join the East African Community (EAC) five year ago. However, its request was placed on hold because in order for a country to be a member of the EAC, it must share a common border with any of the initial five partner states. Efforts to find the EAC Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Richard Owora Othieno, to comment on the issue last weekend, proved futile as he wasn’t around and his phone was unreachable. South Sudan, which borders the two EAC member states - Kenya and Uganda in the South - apparently stood in-between Khartoum, but since it has now become a member, it is possible for North Sudan to re-apply and be considered to join EAC. South Sudan brought into the...

Women engaged in cross-border trade still face many challenges that are affecting their performance and profitability. Issues like language barrier, insufficient working capital, and the fact that mothers are not allowed to cross some borders with the young children, still impend business growth of women engaged in cross-border trade. Though border customs procedures have been greatly reduced, cross-border women entrepreneurs say a lot of time is wasted at border points clearing goods, especially when there are power cuts or the data capturing system is down, causing delays. These are some of the main barriers affecting women involved in cross-border businesses, according to findings of a study carried out last year. The study, by the Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), examined the current trade policies at national and regional levels in the East African Community (EAC) bloc. In an interview with Business Times EASSI project co-ordinator Elisabeth Ampairwe said there is also lack of skills and knowledge on how to compile business data and on how to use technology in business transactions. Ampairwe says these challenges continue to make it hard for women traders to operate profitably in the region. She called on EAC governments to increase their support to women cross-border traders so that they are able to improve operations and earn more money that would help enhance their lives and those of their families. Cross-border trade with neighbouring countries accounted for 18.5 per cent of formal export value amounting to $86.49 million in...

Rwanda and Tanzania appear headed for closer ties following President John Pombe Magufuli's visit to Kigali, during which he held largely private talks with President Paul Kagame. On the surface President Magufuli's visit to Rwanda was motivated by trade - opening a common border post. That Rwanda was his first official stop outside Tanzania pointed to an urgency to mend the frosty relations between the two countries that appeared to worsen during his predecessor Jakaya Kikwete's reign. Before and during President Kikwete's reign, a calculated approach to integration under the East Africa Community seemed to sap the patience out of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, leading to the formation of what was dubbed the coalition of the willing. The three countries, united by the need to expedite trade along the northern corridor, earmarked the standard gauge railway and port reforms. On the human side the coalition's initiatives were anchored by measures to allow freer movement of labour and travel through single tourist visas and use of national identification cards for citizens crossing borders. The division saw many analysts fear for the bloc despite officials insisting that under the principle of reciprocity and variable geometry countries were allowed to join regional initiatives at the point where they felt ready enough. This sounded quite hollow with Tanzania and Burundi snubbing meetings called to fast-track integration. During the Burundi political crisis last year, Tanzania appeared to be sympathetic to President Pierre Nkurunziza. At the time, relations between Rwanda and Burundi were tense with the...

The International Monetary Fund is to extend a standby credit facility to Rwanda but wants the government to tighten its economic policies to safeguard macro-economic stability and stimulate growth. The amount Kigali has requested and when it is to be released, however, will be known in May after the board meets. READ: Rwanda could go for IMF precautionary loan IMF deputy division chief African Department Laure Redifer led the IMF mission to Kigali from March 22 to April 5 for the fifth review of the economic and financial programme supported by the IMF’s Policy Support Instrument (PSI). The standby credit facility provides financial assistance to low-income countries with short-term balance of payment needs. The IMF projects that the Rwandan economy will slow down from 6.9 per cent growth registered last year to 6 per cent for two years as a result of shocks in 2016/17 before picking in 2018. These shocks are fuelled by a firming dollar which has resulted in the Rwandan franc depreciating, the falling export revenues and a ballooning import bill, putting pressure on external reserves. “The strengthening of the US dollar against other currencies worldwide, coupled with the decline in international commodity prices that negatively affected the export revenues, has put pressure on the Rwanda franc,” a statement by the National Bank of Rwanda said. The loan facility from the IMF is to be invested Rwanda import substitution drive as the country seeks to reduce the trade deficit gap by tapping into the regional market. In...

East Africa is projected to lead other African regions in growth, rising 6.8 per cent in 2016 and 6.6 per cent in 2017, backed by robust growth in countries such as Rwanda and Tanzania, according to the Economic Report on Africa 2016. This is despite low commodity prices, rising imports of capital goods for infrastructure and the recent drought. By contrast, East Africa will lag behind on its urbanised population share by 2050. East Africa’s rural majority will translate into slower growth in manufacturing and a continued reliance on agriculture in the medium term (to 2025). The report titled “Greening Africa’s Industrialisation” and launched during the African Development Week in Addis Ababa shows that East Africa maintained the highest growth rate in the region, at 6.2 per cent in 2015, despite a decline from 7.0 per cent in 2014. But UN Economic Commission for Africa executive secretary Carlos Lopes warned that the current growth — driven largely by government related spending — has not generated sufficient jobs and has not been inclusive enough to significantly curb poverty. “It is difficult to predict how the current downturn in commodity prices will affect Africa’s development trajectory: the situation is certainly difficult, but is providing powerful incentives to relocate economic resources away from commodity production and into more sustainable activities,” said Dr Lopes. The report says that regional risks include weather-related shocks. Drought could hurt agriculture, which is still the main employer in most African countries. Poor harvests would increase risk of inflation...

Rwanda and Tanzania appear headed for closer ties following President John Pombe Magufuli’s visit to Kigali, during which he held largely private talks with President Paul Kagame. On the surface President Magufuli’s visit to Rwanda was motivated by trade – opening a common border post. That Rwanda was his first official stop outside Tanzania pointed to an urgency to mend the frosty relations between the two countries that appeared to worsen during his predecessor Jakaya Kikwete’s reign. Before and during President Kikwete’s reign, a calculated approach to integration under the East Africa Community seemed to sap the patience out of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, leading to the formation of what was dubbed the coalition of the willing. The three countries, united by the need to expedite trade along the northern corridor, earmarked the standard gauge railway and port reforms. On the human side the coalition’s initiatives were anchored by measures to allow freer movement of labour and travel through single tourist visas and use of national identification cards for citizens crossing borders. The division saw many analysts fear for the bloc despite officials insisting that under the principle of reciprocity and variable geometry countries were allowed to join regional initiatives at the point where they felt ready enough. This sounded quite hollow with Tanzania and Burundi snubbing meetings called to fast-track integration. During the Burundi political crisis last year, Tanzania appeared to be sympathetic to President Pierre Nkurunziza. At the time, relations between Rwanda and Burundi were tense with the...

In what signals the country's stay in a forced marriage, Tanzania's performance in a number of dimensions of regional integration has lagged behind that of its East African peers -Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. This is according to the Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII), a new tool designed to measure the level of regional integration among African countries. The index is a collaborative effort between the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). It seeks to collect data on the impacts of regional integration. Countries are assigned scores from a scale of 0.0 to 1.0. It was created using five dimensions including regional infrastructure, regional trade, productive integration, free movement of people and financial and macro-economic integration. While the four countries have performed well above the African average- Tanzania has not. Kenya, the largest economy in the region, set the example in regional integration leading in three of the five dimensions that was used to design the index including regional trade, productive integration and free movement of people. Tanzania was last three dimensions including regional infrastructure, free movement of people, financial and macroeconomic integration. In essence, it is easier for a Tanzanian to enter Kenya and set a business than it is for a Kenyan to get into Tanzania and do the same. READ MORE East Africa trading bloc ranked high in regional integration Tanzania searches for "ghost workers" on public sector payroll Treat Kenyan VIPs with more decorum Tanzania is...