SAFE BORDERS = SAFE TRADE
TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) is working closely with its partners to ensure that the impacts of COVID-19 on trade are minimised through implementation of its Safe Trade Emergency Facility (STEF) Programme. One of the key activities under the programme is distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to key trade conduits and ports.
SAFE TRADE
TESTING FOR SAFE TRUCK DRIVERS
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), is providing COVID-19 testing to thousands of truck drivers on Kenya’s borders. The testing by IOM is being carried out in partnership with TradeMark East Africa under the Safe Trade Emergency Facility Programme to ensure trade continues safely while protecting livelihoods.
EMERGING IMPACT
STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Want to know why chillies are sweet to Rwandan trader Diego? Or Ever thought of switching careers? Well, Kirabira went from a reluctant farmer to leading the charge on improvement in crop production standards in East Africa! Read about this and more stories in our Impact Story Compendium. This collection of stories demonstrates that collaboration with the private sector, governments and the East African Community is the key ingredient of our achievements.
PROGRAMMES
130 TRAINED ON TRADE FACILITATION
The East African Community (EAC) to date has strengthened ties and advanced free trade between Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. The coronavirus pandemic has put a strain on trade facilitation in the short-term, but the experience has been a learning curve. UNCTAD, TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) and other regional partners have capitalised on the moment to help the region’s national trade facilitation committees (NTFCs) improve their skills and work more effectively through ground-breaking online training.
AN ALLY IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE
If there is anything positive that could be said of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, it is that the country quickly learnt from other nations earlier devastated by the plague. Kenya speedily implemented containment measures, yet, as in many countries, local infections were reported and have continued increasing. The private sector quickly aligned itself and has remained a close partner to the state in fighting the pandemic.
RESEARCH AND LEARNING
The disruptive impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on global and regional trade have received enormous attention recently. In this brief, newly released trade data from Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) provides evidence on the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on trade in Kenya and the wider East African region.