Djibouti, September 25th, 2023:  The European Union (EU) is partnering with the Republic of Djibouti and the African Alliance for e-commerce to organise the ongoing 9th edition of the International Single Window Conference taking place in Djibouti from September 25 to 26, 2023. This conference highlights some of the investment opportunities and ongoing developments throughout the African continent that will enhance the efficiency of trade globally. The EU is supporting efforts in the region that will boost regional economic integration and facilitate regional trade aligned with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). A key action under this partnership is the EU support to the Horn of Africa Initiative’s strategy, collaborating with the governments of the Republic of Djibouti and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The EU has committed €32 million to a programme dedicated to “Promoting regional economic integration in the Horn of Africa through the development of the Djibouti corridor” implemented by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the aid-for-trade organisation TradeMark Africa (TMA). The programme is aiming at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of one of the most active economic corridors in Africa while promoting inclusive trade. This is achieved through trade processes digitalisation in government agencies to shorten the time required to get trade documents and accelerate the transit of goods along the corridor – from the Port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. Electronic Single Windows and cargo tracking systems are examples of such digital interventions. To marshal strategic partnerships...

Djibouti, le 25 Septembre 2023: L'Union européenne (UE) est partenaire de la République de Djibouti et de l'Alliance africaine pour le commerce électronique pour organiser la 9ème édition de la Conférence internationale sur le guichet unique, qui se tiendra à Djibouti du 25 au 26 septembre 2023. Cette conférence internationale met en lumière les opportunités d'investissement et les développements en cours sur le continent africain qui permettront d'améliorer l'efficacité du commerce au niveau mondial. L'UE soutient les efforts déployés dans la région pour stimuler l'intégration économique régionale et faciliter le commerce régional, conformément aux objectifs de la zone de libre-échange continentale africaine (ZLECAF). Une action clé de ce partenariat est le soutien de l'UE à la stratégie économique et commerciale de l'Initiative pour la Corne de l'Afrique, en collaboration avec les gouvernements de la République de Djibouti et de la République fédérale démocratique d'Éthiopie. L'UE a engagé 32 millions d'euros dans le cadre du programme "Promouvoir l'intégration économique régionale dans la Corne de l'Afrique par le développement du corridor de Djibouti", mis en œuvre par l'Agence Française de Développement (AFD) et l'organisation d'aide au commerce TradeMark Africa (TMA). Le programme vise à améliorer l'efficacité de l'un des corridors économiques les plus actifs d'Afrique, le Corridor de Djibouti, tout en encourageant le commerce inclusif. Cet objectif est possible grâce à la numérisation des processus commerciaux dans les agences gouvernementales, afin de réduire le temps nécessaire à l'obtention des documents commerciaux et d'accélérer le transit des marchandises le long du corridor -...

Nairobi, 12 July 2023: The East African Community (EAC) has developed and unveiled an online tool to measure the performance of the twenty two (22) One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) across the region.  The EAC Secretary General, Hon. (Dr) Peter Mathuki unveiled the One Stop Border Post Performance Measurement Tool at the just ended 14th African Union High Level Private Sector Forum taking place in Nairobi this week. He announced the tool is now ready for use and that Partner States and stakeholders will embark on data collection, sensitisation on use and full roll out. OSPBs are an important infrastructure at border crossing points and contribute to spur intra-regional trade by reducing the costs of doing business through reduction of time and costs taken to cross borders. Further, OSBPs eliminate multiplicity of documentation associated with two-stop border post bureaucracies. Lack of data to inform decision making on major aspects such as OSBP performance, human resources and state of physical and digital infrastructure has often slowed down collective action for optimal performance of existing OSBPs. The One Stop Border Post Performance Measurement Tool will involve a range of measurements including time spent on administrative procedures, reduction of transport cost, reduction of inventory cost and increase of revenue collection and trade.  Custom administrators in the EAC region will use the data in the measurement tool to assess OSBP performance and institute improvement strategies.  Specifically, the Tool has been developed to provide the necessary mechanism to measure the performance of OSBPs on six...

Nairobi, 3 July 2023: Trade Catalyst Africa (TCA), a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of leading African aid-for-trade organisation, TradeMark Africa (TMA), has appointed Mr. Duncan Onyango as its inaugural Chief Executive Officer. Duncan, an Oxford-educated investment executive with over two decades of management experience, will assume his new role on 3 July 2023. He joins TCA from Pharo Ventures East Africa, a for-profit arm of The Pharo Foundation focused on investing in commercially viable and environmentally sustainable enterprises in Eastern Africa. Duncan brings an abundance of skills to his new role from his vast experience gained from working in the donor, development finance, private and public sector environments, having equally served on the boards of diverse organisations globally. TCA is an investment vehicle that seeks to implement innovative financing structures for the development of trade infrastructure and enhancing access to trade finance for SMEs. USAID provided the initial capital of $25 million for TCA’s operationalisation. TCA will raise additional resources from development finance institutions (DFIs), commercial banks, private equity funds and other financial institutions. TCA will build on TMA’s in-depth experience in project design, implementation, and stakeholder engagements. Commenting on the appointment, TCA Board Chair, Patrick Obath said: “We are pleased to welcome Duncan to TCA. He brings to this role a wealth of experience in infrastructure finance, impact investing, trade facilitation as well as corporate and development finance. Coupled with his strategic foresight, he will be instrumental in exploiting the immense opportunities available in the trade finance industry.” TMA...

Busia, June 20, 2023: TradeMark Africa (TMA) jointly with Busia County Government, the Ministry in charge of EAC Affairs and development partners, have today officially launched a safe space market that will benefit 160 women cross-border traders, who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The construction of the market started in July 2021 as part of the Safe Trade Emergency Facility (STEF) that TradeMark Africa implemented together with the County Government of Busia with funding from Canada, Ireland, the European Union, and Denmark. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, took a huge toll on international and local trade. Informal cross border traders, particularly women, were hard hit, with reports indicating closure of their businesses, or a drastic reduction in operations with income losses of over 90% due to stringent government-enforced restrictions of social distancing to reduce overcrowding and combat spread of the virus. The establishment of Safe Trade Zones as espoused in the STEF programme was an important step in helping traders, their customers, and local authorities to comply with COVID-19 protocols such as social distancing. “Due to the significant risk posed by the global pandemic, difficult decisions had to be taken. Two options were considered: either shutting down non-compliant COVID-19 markets or implementing strict containment measures. Unfortunately, these measures resulted in the displacement of many women traders, leading to the loss of their livelihoods,” said Allen Asiimwe, TradeMark Africa’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, and Chief of Programmes. Allen added: “Today, we are happy to witness many of...

Nairobi, 14 June 2023: Following over 13 years of supporting trade facilitation initiatives across East Africa, Southern Africa and the Horn of Africa, TradeMark Arica (TMA) has announced its third strategic plan billed to support more inclusive, greener, and digital trade initiatives. The strategy covers 2023-2030. TMA targets to raise and invest $700 million over the seven-year period. TMA has stated that it aims to contribute to a further reduction of trade costs and increase efficiency in an expanded Pan-African posture. Specifically, it aims to facilitate an increase in Africa’s exports to the rest of the world by 33% from $500 billion to $650 billion, an increase in the value of intra-African trade by $70 billion whilst directly contributing to creation of 400,000 jobs. The seven-year plan dubbed Strategy 3 is anchored on calculated efforts to support implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the decarbonisation of trade and logistics processes in sub-Saharan Africa with an aim to leverage green investments to a tune of $120 million, while facilitating enterprises and governments through innovative automated systems to ease cross-border transactions and hasten movement of goods across select trade and transport corridors. Building on the successes of Strategy 1 and 2 (2010-2023), TMA will deepen its work on select corridors in the continent with a focus on reducing the time and cost it takes to trade across borders and trade nodes by 15%. The strategy comes in the wake of TMA’s recent rebranding and expansion to West Africa with...

Kasumulu/Songwe Border, Tanzania/Malawi - June 5, 2023 - Today, a historic event unfolded as the electronic data exchange between Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) was officially launched. The data exchange will facilitate sharing of information through the respective Revenue Authorities Customs Management Systems Tanzania Customs Integrated System (TANCIS) for TRA, and ASYCUDA World for MRA (The ceremony took place at the Kasumulu/Songwe border, signifying a breakthrough in cross-border trade efficiency and fostering regional economic growth. Supported by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office through TradeMark Africa to a tune of   USD 200,000, , this initiative aims to streamline customs processes, promote transparency, and facilitate seamless trade operations. The integration of TRA-TANCIS and MRA - ASYCUDA World will revolutionize the clearance processes, benefiting businesses and individuals in both Tanzania and Malawi. According to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, the export value between Tanzania and Malawi in 2022 amounted to USD 81.54 million. With the implementation of this advanced system, it is anticipated that the trade value will witness a significant upsurge, resulting in exponential revenue growth for both countries. The TRA Deputy Commissioner General, Mr. Mcha Hassan Mcha highlighted the significance of the system stating, "The electronic data exchange between TRA and MRA is a monumental step towards modernizing customs procedures and simplifying cross-border trade. By leveraging advanced technology, we aim to optimize revenue collection, reduce clearance times, enhance trade facilitation, and improve the ease of doing business.” The MRA Executive Director – Corporate...

Mombasa, 17 May 2023: Under the leadership of the Netherlands, supported by Denmark and the European Union (EU), TradeMark Africa (TMA) with the Kenyan Government and private sector, have today kicked off plans aimed at driving the country’s shift to the green and sustainable transportation of Kenyan horticultural exports. Successful implementation of the plans will enable Kenya to not only increase its share, but also to shift to exporting half of its horticulture produce from air to sea freight in the next 10 years. This will reduce both the carbon footprint and the cost of exports. Several larger companies have already started to use sea freight for the export of flowers, vegetables and fruits but the sector is now aiming for a transformative and larger shift. The kick off meeting at the Port of Mombasa marked the official start of engagements to map out pathways towards transitioning to moving more horticultural exports by sea. It was attended by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Hon. Salim Mvurya, representatives from the Ministry of Roads and Transport, Ambassadors from European Union Member States in Kenya and TMA Country Director Mr Ahmed Farah and Deputy CEO Ms Allen Sophia Asiimwe. Those attending the meeting agreed that the shift from air to sea freight will allay growing concerns about air freight’s large carbon footprint. The push for sustainable transportation comes not just from the EU, which is one of Kenya’s major export destinations, but also other major global actors and...

Download TMA Annual Report 2021/2022 Suite of interventions at the Port of Mombasa has over the years reduced cargo clearance time to 3.5 days in 2022 down from 11 days in 2010. TMA has invested upwards of US$88 million at the port to date. The cost per kilometre of transporting a 20-foot container from Mombasa to Kampala along the Northern Corridor declined by 41%, from US$2.90/KM in 2010 to US$1.70/KM in 2021 Interventions at the Nimule/Elegu border between Uganda and South Sudan, reduced cargo clearance time at Nimule (South Sudan) from 4 hours to 7 hours and at Elegu (Uganda) from 60 hours to 1.5 hours between 2013 and 2021. Automating key processes and acquiring modern equipment at the Tanzania Bureau of Standards, reduced certification time by 58% from 50 days in 2017 to 21 days in 2022. Time taken for sample analysis decreased from approximately 5.5 hours to 10 Nairobi, 09th March 2023: Leading aid for trade organisation TradeMark Africa -TMA (formerly TradeMark East Africa) has today launched its Annual Report 2021/2022 that highlights significant contributions to reducing trade times and costs in the East, Horn, and Southern Africa region. The report covers thematic trade facilitation areas including physical infrastructure, digital trade systems, improved trade environment and also the financial highlights of the year. The report is available on the link www.trademarkafrica.com/publications/ and outlines priorities to ensure trade facilitation solves the challenges and seizes the opportunities of the future, not least fostering green trade, and supporting the continent-wide momentum...

Nairobi, 28th February 2023: Leading aid for trade organisation TradeMark Africa -TMA (formerly TradeMark East Africa), global Government advisory organisation Tony Blair Institute (TBI) and catalytic fund Trade Catalyst Africa (TCA - a subsidiary of TMA), have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to closely collaborate in trade facilitation and trade finance in order to grow trade across Africa. The three organisations will work closely to facilitate trade development to support implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which became effective in 2021. The AfCFTA aims to create a continent-wide market of $3.4 trillion and 1.3 billion people, where goods from one corner trade freely in another. If fully implemented, the AfCFTA could lift thirty million people out of poverty by 2035 based on trade between African countries growing by more than 50%. The success of AfCFTA – and of greater trade integration more widely – hinges on the removal of trade barriers across Africa. These include significant transport infrastructure gaps, cumbersome and unautomated trade processes, and differing customs regimes that delay goods moving freely. TMA, TBI and TCA will be deploying their strong expertise in trade facilitation projects, policy advice to governments and innovative finance to help resolve these trade bottlenecks. Past interventions by the three organisations in Africa include supporting the implementation of trade corridor efficiency programmes, delivering tech-based solutions for trade licensing and customs administration, helping governments harmonise and automate trade standards, generating holistic government trade and export promotion strategies, and facilitating trade and...