Ethiopia has received significant investor interest from regional and emerging markets with the country registering double digit growth and implementing sound policies. Ethiopia has also been identified as the next central East African trade hub. Head of Africa Trading at Rand Merchant Bank, Roy Daniels, joins CNBC Africa to discuss this. Source: CNBC Africa

There has been a lot of hand-wringing, and even alarm, in Kenya since Uganda decided to route its oil pipeline through Tanzania and Rwanda gave up the standard gauge railway and also decided to go with a line through Tanzania. There have been cries that Kenya is being “isolated” by the other East African countries. Surprising, really, because one would have thought that after so many years as the region’s leading economy, Kenya would be a little more confident than it is sounding. But there is something else. The focus on big infrastructure has partially to do with patriotic vanity and even nationalist ego rather than how countries in the region fuel each other’s development. For example, one of the fanciest hospitals and East Africa’s first tele-medicine hospital is Butaro, in western Rwanda. It was built in one of the most far-flung parts of the country. There was criticism when the hospital was being built, with accusations that it was a “waste” to locate it in the wilderness and that it would turn into a white elephant. It might well have, except there was something no one had factored in during the plan. The hospital is not far off from Uganda, and that region of Uganda had no decent hospital. Shortly after opening, hundreds of Ugandans swept across the border, travelling to be attended to at the hospital. That, and other local factors, changed the story of Butaro. Near my hometown in eastern Uganda, a low profile Italian Catholic order...

It’s already Nigeria’s largest city, but it’s still growing – and fast. The population of Lagos is predicted to increase by an astonishing 77 people every hour between 2010 and 2030, according to United Nations data, making it the fastest-growing city in Africa. Strong economic growth, led by an oil boom, has driven the rural poor towards the city, and the population surge is also being driven by high birth rates and the return of Nigerians living abroad. Image: UN World Urbanisation Prospects, 2014 Following in second place is Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Cairo completes the top three. The figures are calculated using actual population figures for 2010 and forecasts for the likely populations in 2030, taken from 2014’s UN World Urbanization Prospects report. Can the infrastructure keep up? Seventy-seven people an hour. That’s 1,848 people a day, or 12,946 a week, or 56,179 a month – roughly the equivalent of the entire population of Greenland moving to Lagos every month. The big question is whether Africa’s urban infrastructure can keep up. Lagos already suffers from electricity supply problems and its road system is nearly paralysed. However, $50 billion worth of new infrastructure is due to transform the city. A rapid-transport system, new power plants and Africa’s first suspension bridge are planned to make life easier for Lagos residents. This is a pattern repeated across Africa, as expanding populations put a strain on urban resources. However, African cities are acting to build resilience and reduce the risks associated with expanding populations. In an article for...

Kampala. Plans for Uganda and Bangladesh to trade in textile and jute have been finalised, senior officials have said. Officials said the two countries are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share information and technology on trade where Bangladesh will be extending its textile and jute products to the country. Mr Mahmood Hudda, the Honourary Consul of Bangladesh in Uganda, said the exportation of jute products to Uganda is timely as the country moves from plastic packaging to biodegradable materials. “The MoU has been presented to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for vetting of documents to formulate the bilateral trade. We are also looking at the Trade ministry to look into tax exemption on importation of jute to facilitate the trade on duty free basis,” Mr Hudda said over the weekend. On taxing jute products, former Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde said it is an issue that will be considered in future since the country has undergone the budgeting process. Mr Hudda, who led a delegation from Bangladesh for a meeting with the Ms Kyambadde, also revealed that Uganda will also be exporting rice to Bangladesh for food security. “This is a long-term strategy because we want to encourage our private sector to extend expertise in Jute and textile production in Uganda to promote development,” he added. Ms Kyambadde said the exportation of jute products to Uganda comes at a time when Uganda is phasing out the use of plastic materials for packaging because it will increase the...

LUSAKA Africa remains the second-fastest growing economic region after East Asia, says a report. It, however, notes there is need for a higher expansion rate, if the continent is to make a meaningful dent in poverty levels. The report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) said the continent’s average growth is projected at 3.7 per cent in 2016 and will pick up to 4.5 per cent in 2017, provided the world economy strengthens and commodity prices gradually recover. Titled African Economic Outlook 2016, the survey says Africa’s economic performance held firm in 2015 amid global headwinds and regional shocks. Last year, it said, net financial flows to the continent were estimated at $208 billion, 1.8 per cent lower than in 2014, due to a contraction in investment. The report was released on Monday during opening of the lender’s annual meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. The forum brings together several delegates from around the world. MAKE REAL IMPACT While launching it, AfDB acting director development research department, Mr Abebe Shimeles, said to make any real impact at reducing poverty, Africa needs to grow at a rate of 7 per cent per year. And during a panel discussion on sustainable cities and structural transformation in Africa, UNDP assistant administrator and regional director, Mr Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, said Africa had made some gains in human development, especially in education. Mr Dieye said one of the major challenges facing cities on the continent was governance as local administration was neglected by national governments. UN Habitat...

It is now official. Kenya will no longer be the gateway to Africa’s Great Lakes Region. Rwanda announced last week that it would join Uganda to develop a new gateway to Tanzanian ports. This announcement follows hot on the heels of an earlier announcement by Uganda that its oil pipeline to the sea would go through Tanzania, contrary to the expectation that it would pass through Kenya. Some pundits may see this turn of events as a strategy to isolate Kenya in the region, but it may herald a new competitive environment that would benefit the entire region. For more than half a century, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo relied on the port of Mombasa, the East African Railways, and the relatively better road network in Kenya to import and export goods to and from these countries. Kenya took this opportunity for granted.  Unofficial, non-tariff barriers frustrated desperate landlocked countries. Due to the huge delays, perishable goods often got damaged on the way. Corruption added injury to an already-increasing pain on Kenyan roads. Tanzania, which has massive resources on the Indian Ocean, slept on the goldmine of the Dar and Tanga ports. Then came Magufuli, and he is turning out to be Tanzania’s knight in shining armour. The man is seen as a believable, reassuring, no-nonsense fixer. In one fell swoop, he has demolished the “coalition of the willing,” which threatened to isolate Tanzania as the unwilling partner in East African integration. Consequently, Tanzania may be on...

Uganda targets to focus on east Africa markets to drive its exports over the next five years, a State agency said. Executive director of the Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB), Elly Twineyo Kamugisha, said the country’s exports to the EAC were their single highest compared to other markets overseas. “Regional markets are getting bigger by the day,” Mr Kamugisha told a media briefing in Kampala. He continued: “Before, European markets used to be the biggest but we are seeing a shift in that. There is now over $1 billion export market in the region and it is easy to promote our products within the region because we have similar lifestyles.” According to UEPB data, Uganda’s total merchandise exports in 2014 was $2.6 billion and by close of last year, it had hit $2.7 billion. Statistics further indicated that last year, the regional market is Uganda’s top export destination, with $1 billion worth of exports shipped from Uganda to the neighbouring countries. This means that 54 per cent of Uganda’s exports are consumed regionally. The European Union comes second, consuming $502 million worth of the country’s exports. Explaining the disparity, Mr Kamugisha said: “Market familiarity, proximity, growing demand, less stringent standard requirements and adding value to our products explains why the regional markets consume more of our products than elsewhere.” Last year, products such as fish, maize, beans, sugar, bananas, sorghum and industrial products exported informally to neighbouring countries such as Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania were worth...

Uganda, which was recently named one of the top ten international tourist destinations at the inaugural Global Tourist Destination Carnival, is turning her tourism sector around, using various attractions and faith to grow the sector. Tourism in Uganda is predominately focused on the landscape and wildlife but has found much success in the growing popularity of Uganda Martyrs. "2015 was a very watershed year for us, we saw quite a number of projects taking off, specifically we had record numbers in one of our niche products, the Uganda Martyrs, which is a faith based tourism project,” said Stephen Asiimwe, CEO of Uganda Tourism Board. Uganda has many attractions that maintain traffic into the country; some of the ones mentioned by Asiimwe are; having 50 per cent of the continent’s bird species, the world's largest concentration of primates and some of the best waterfalls in the world. “Uganda Martyrs is a story of a group of young people at the close of the 19th century, who died for their faith.” He adds: “There was a kingdom called Buganda, as a result of the Christian and Muslim faith's engagement with the local people, [who] refused to denounce their faith, so the king had them executed and over a century later this has become an attraction for Uganda bring in thousands of people.” Uganda Martyrs' Day celebrations are held every year on June, 3rd, a public holiday, where millions make the pilgrimage to gather at the now Namugongo basilica. “Last year Uganda had...

Africa's economy is likely to grow 3.7 percent this year as resilient private consumption and investment offsets the effect of a slump in commodity prices and global headwinds, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Monday. Launching its latest regional economic outlook in the Zambian capital, the AfDB also said growth could accelerate to 4.5 percent next year if commodity prices recovered and the global economy strengthened. Source: CNBC Africa

Worldwide the future of manufacturing is uncertain. Thanks to emerging technologies such as mobile connectivity, artificial intelligence, next-generation robotics, and 3D printing, supply chains and factory floors face transformations as significant as any since the last industrial revolution. This “Fourth Industrial Revolution” will feature new forms of collaboration that drive innovative value chains and business models that could leave traditional industrial patterns in the dust. Influenced by these global manufacturing trends, Africa has its own challenges. In order to develop its economic infrastructure and to improve its balance of payments, local beneficiation of the continent’s natural resources and agricultural products is essential.  The United Nations expects that Africa’s population will double to 2.5 billion people by 2050. The middle class is rising, indicating an increase in consumption. Moreover, the population growth indicates a dramatic need for employment. Africa has no alternative to developing a strong value-added manufacturing base. The continent, however, has a way to go: in 2014, 30 per cent of China’s GDP came from manufacturing, according to the World Bank. By comparison, Nigeria’s share stood at just 9 per cent, Kenya 12 per cent, Zambia 8 per cent. Africa has ample opportunities to grow its manufacturing base in a broad range of industries. Local beneficiation of resources in for example oil and gas is one example. Moreover, the growth of the population will spur growth in direct consumer industries such as food/agriculture and beverage, home and personal care, apparel, and even automotive. Other likely target sectors include secondary industries...