Rapid Prosperity Gains Come from Breaking Down Trade Barriers
Africa’s significant growth potential is being constrained by low trading volumes both within the continent and exporting from it. Trade infrastructure gaps, unaligned regulatory environments and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) make life hard for exporters, leading to a predominance of primary goods in the export portfolio, and a host of lost opportunities to boost intra-African trade. […]
The European Union (EU) Keen to Deepen Trade Ties with Kenya
Members of European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, on November 3, 2022, held talks with teams from TradeMark East Africa, Kenya’s Ministry of Trade and regional private sector representatives on investment opportunities, trade relations and barriers. Led by committee chair, Bernd Lange, the team sought to understand key concerns around the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) […]
EAC and TradeMark East Africa Work Towards Harmonisation of Levies, Fees and Charges Among Member States
From 12th -18th September, the East Africa Community (EAC) Secretariat, in partnership with TradeMark East Africa (TradeMark), convened a Regional Task Force (RTF) meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, aimed at discussing and compiling a comprehensive list of all levies, fees and charges within the EAC for harmonisation and removal. This is the first of […]
TradeMark Africa Announces New Chief Executive Officer
Senior diplomat and development professional, former United Kingdom High Commissioner, adviser at World Bank and IMF boards to lead one of the world’s largest Aid for Trade institutions Nairobi, August 31, 2022: Mr. David Beer has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for TradeMark Africa (TMA), and succeeds Mr. Frank Matsaert, TMA’s founding […]
How Non-tariff Barriers Affect Trade in The EAC
Definition of NTBs According to the COMESA-EAC-SADC NTB online reporting mechanism, Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) refer to restrictions that result from prohibitions, conditions, or specific market requirements that make importation or exportation of products difficult and/or costly. NTBs also include unjustified and/or improper application of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and […]
Automation of the World’s Biggest Black Tea Auction for Export delivers results one year on
EATTA’s Integrated Tea Trading System (iTTS) which automated the manual trade processes along the tea value chain for traders using the Mombasa Tea Auction has improved efficiency and transparency resulting to reduced costs and time of trading for tea traders, evaluations show. The system is funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through TradeMark […]
How EU-Africa partnership is unlocking sustainable trade in Africa [Op-Ed]
In the line of my work for an aid-for-trade organisation, I recently traversed key trade corridors across the African continent to assess their current state of play. These include Abidjan-Lagos in the West, Mombasa-Goma in the East and Durban-Lubumbashi to the South. Travelling mainly by road along these crucial trade routes revealed the vast trade […]
Global Pandemic Reaffirms TMEA’s Relevance & Impact
2021 marked an important watershed moment for global trade, as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic started to subside, and countries began to post stronger economic growth. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global trade touched a high of $28 trillion, 11% growth from pre-pandemic levels. Trade in services is […]
Time To Focus Beyond COVID-19
The better part of the last two financial years have been marked by unprecedented global focus on COVID-19, the global pandemic that took the World by surprise. The numerous natural, economic, and intellectual resources that have been spent to contain the spread of the rapidly-mutating enigmatic disease, and to eradicate it, have been worthwhile. In […]
Combating COVID-19 and Supporting Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the globe and disrupted the lives of billions of people in every corner of the world. Eastern Africa has not been left unscathed. The pandemic has affected trade and economic activity in a fundamental way. Whereas many have weighed the impact of COVID-19 on health terms, we in trade facilitation […]