East Africa entrepreneur Ali Mufuruki and former WTO Director General Pascal Lamy part of TradeMark Africa’s 11 member board
Nairobi – August 25th, 2015 – TradeMark Africa (TMA) today announced the appointment a new Board of Directors. This follows successful completion of a rigorous appointment process of highly-experienced East African nationals. Chaired by Tanzanian entrepreneur Ali Mufuruki, the new Board comprises leading business and civil society professionals in East Africa. Former World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy joins the Board as Special Advisor.
In 2013, TMA embarked on a process of developing its governance arrangements. TMA’s investors assume a shareholder role with a day to day oversight of the organisation undertaken by the independent Board.
The appointment of the Board members is a strong endorsement of TMA as an inclusive and results driven organisation whose key mandate is to increase prosperity in East Africa. TMA funding has grown to a US$700m budget since its inception in 2010 with presence in all EAC Partner States and South Sudan.
“I am proud to welcome such an experienced pool of industry professionals to the board of TradeMark Africa,” said Ali Mufuruki, Board Chairman of TMA. “We conducted an exhaustive search for individuals who have proven track records in their respective professions, and are delighted to have identified such outstanding individuals. These board members who comprise professionals from both government, donor institutions and the private sector, bring extensive international and regional expertise in the development sector, executive management and the donor community to TMA.”
TMA Chief Executive Officer Frank Matsaert, concurred, “We are delighted to welcome the new board members. The board’s composition is a reflection of the need to draw expertise from local, regional and international individuals to better improve the organisation as we gear for more development and expansion.”
Over the last 5 years, TMA has supported partners to implement over 150 projects spread across the East Africa region aimed at increasing the regions trade competitiveness. They include port modernisation projects at the Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports, improvements along the key Central and Northern transport corridors’ such as supporting construction of 13 One Stop Border Posts, elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTB’s), harmonisation of standards and support to cross border traders. Overall, these and other TMA interventions will contribute to reducing costs of doing business in E.A. Combined, they will deliver USD 17Billion in benefits to the region.
Source: TradeMark Africa (TMA)
TradeMark Africa (TMA) is an aid-for-trade organisation that was established with the aim of growing prosperity in East Africa through increased trade. TradeMark Africa (TMA) operates on a not-for-profit basis and is funded by the development agencies of the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, UK, and USA. TradeMark Africa (TMA) works closely with East African Community (EAC) institutions, national governments, the private sector and civil society organisations.
