Growing momentum behind regional integration, economic reforms, technological advances and infrastructure development are among the key factors fuelling business growth in sub-Sahara Africa, said a new whitepaper released by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The report, entitled “Promise and Perils: Scaling up businesses in sub-Sahara Africa”, was issued ahead of GBF Africa 2019 in Dubai. The findings shed light on the current business climate in sub-Sahara Africa and examined attractive business prospects offering the most potential for investors in the UAE and wider GCC region. Key growth drivers The report highlighted the importance of regional integration initiatives such as the East Africa Economic Community, Single African Air Transport Market and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in removing trade barriers and driving business exchange. The AfCFTA is expected to liberalising trade and investment policies and ease easing operational challenges related to international money transfers and payments. Combined, these allow African SMEs to expand operations across markets, creating attractive opportunities for investors too. Expanding telecommunications networks are facilitating the growth of internet connectivity, mobile money and new digital services that build on it. Mobile money, which facilitates money transfers and payments, is also a growth enabler as it moves into business lending. Improved internet connectivity is expected to drive the next wave of technological innovation, enabling companies to develop new, digital services for consumers on the continent. By 2025, 3G mobile network coverage is expected to account for 60% of the mobile...

Women still lag behind in Kenya’s corporate sector management with only 22 per cent representation in the managerial positions, a report on gender equality in the workplace shows. Further, no company has achieved a gender balance at all four levels, that is, board, executive, senior management and general workforce. In totality, women account for 23 per cent of board members up from 21 percent in 2017. According to The Gender Equality In the Workplace Report jointly prepared by the NSE, Equileap and New Faces New Voices and launched on November 13 in Nairobi, of the 60 firms listed on the National Securities Exchange, only seven were headed by women. The report looks into four parameters in ranking the firms, that is, commitment, transparency and accountability, gender balance in leadership and workforce, equal compensation as well as work-life balance, policies promoting gender equality. Of the 60 firms surveyed, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya led with a score of 63 per cent while Nairobi Business Ventures closed the list with a 3 per cent score. Diana van Maasdijk, chief executive officer of Equileap said a firm that scored above 40 per cent was considered to be performing better in enhancing gender equality values at the workplace. Overall, average score for the the Kenyan companies is 26 per cent which is comparable to the Canadian companies’ average score of 27 per cent, the report shows. “This score is an indication that there is room for improvement in gender equality in the workplace,” the partners indicated in...

Non-traditional exports such as fortified foods and cement have buoyed Rwanda’s international trade at a time when international commodity prices remain unstable globally. Previously, traditional exports such as coffee, tea and mineral were the most dominant. However, the global commodity prices in the international market have affected prices of the goods. Central Bank Governor, John Rwangombwa, said that non-traditional exports had played a significant role in driving up exports.  In the first 9 months of 2019, exports grew by 3.9 per cent. The non-traditional exports include fortified foods, food products, cement as well as re-exports of machinery and fuel. “We saw lots of exports to Uganda and South Sudan mainly fortified foods with a positive impact on non-traditional exports. We also see exports of cement to Congo. There were re-exports of machinery and vehicles to Congo and Burundi.  As well as fuel re-exports,” the Governor said. The exports of cement by Cimerwa despite the fact that Rwanda still imports cement can be explained as an attempt to create links and entry into the Congo market as they work to increase their production capacity. Imports into Rwanda grew in the first 9 months of 2019 by 14.6 per cent which increased the trade deficit which is at 24.2 per cent. A significant portion of imports into the country are capital and intermediary which are used for production, Central Bank statistics show. Thomas Kigabo the Chief Economist at the Central Bank said that 30 per cent of the total imports were capital...

The business summit scheduled to take place in Arusha from November 28th -29th, this year will bring together more than 500 business people with top chief executive officers (ceos), industry champions, investors from the region and beyond to engage in dialogue with the high-level policy decision makers, including the EAC Secretary General, the EAC Council of Ministers and the East African Legislative Assembly. Executive Director of Tanzania Private Sector (TPSF) Godfrey Simbeye said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the summit will also discuss measures on how they can boost intra trade level between the EAC countries up to 50 per cent from the current 12 per cent. “The summit will have various sessions including trade and investment climate, harmonization of the tax regime and enhancing public-private collaboration session which will both together explore various issues”, he said. According to Simbeye, the trade and investment climate session will explore main challenges inhibiting intra-EAC trade, key recommendations to significantly diversify EAC economies and to enhance EAC trade and key policy recommendations to boost investments into the EAC. The conference will also discuss on key issues to be addressed to promote the community as a single investment area and how EAC as a region can leverage reforms to address the cost of doing business and attract significant FDI. The harmonization of the tax regime will look at establishment of a regional tax and regulatory partnership for development initiative with the participation of the business community, governments and tax regulatory authorities will also...

The value of intra-trade among East African Community partner states increased to $5.98 billion in 2018 from $5.46 billion in 2017, accounting for a 9.4 per cent growth. This comes as member countries opted to trade with each other in the wake of falling demand for the region’s agricultural products in the US and the rest of the world. The East African Community Trade and Investment Report (2018) shows that all EAC member states save for Burundi recorded growth in trade with their regional counterparts. The report prepared by the EAC Secretariat shows that Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and Kenya’s combined exports to the EAC and Southern African Development Community regions amounted to $3.1 billion and $1.9 billion in 2018 respectively. This shows, however, the growth in intra-EAC trade slowed down to 9.4 per cent last year compared with 24.8 per cent in 2017. The positive trend signals the importance of intra-EAC trade that has been stifled by persistent trade disputes on rules of origin, non-tariff barriers, inadequate value addition to the agricultural sector and competition from other producers and regional blocs that benefit from export subsidies. In 2015 and 2016, intra-EAC trade was in the negative territory. Burundi’s total trade with other EAC partner states fell by 11 per cent to $150.9 million in 2018, from $162.6 million in 2017. Kenya’s total trade with EAC partner states increased by 4.7 per cent to $1.95 billion in 2018 from $1.86 billion in 2017, mainly on account of increased total trade...

President Yoweri Museveni on Friday held a meeting with the European Union delegation in Uganda led by the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Uganda, Attilio Pacifici. The European envoys that included the heads of missions of Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Iceland, Netherland, Poland, Austria and Sweden met the President at State House, Entebbe. Museveni was meeting the envoys as part of the biannual Article 8 Political Dialogue with the EU in accordance with Article 8 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement. During the meeting, Museveni thanked the European Union countries for emphasising trade other than aid when dealing with Uganda that has seen Uganda’s earnings from trade with EU triple the aid to Uganda in the past few years. The President described the trade between the EU and Uganda and the African continent as a whole as complementary as the two mutually benefit from such trade. He, however, appealed to the envoys to attract more European companies to invest in Uganda and take advantage of the ready market in Uganda and Africa as a whole as well as the open tax-free and quarter free market of the USA and Europe that was also negotiated. On the status of the large number of refugees hosted by Uganda, President Museveni told the European Union envoys that the Uganda government policy was to welcome and host people who are running away from trouble but noted that the country faces challenges of resources especially for food, shelter, education and health and...

The ambitious expansion plan of 2012 has made the Port of Mombasa the biggest in East and Central Africa. It is currently ranked fifth in Africa in terms of cargo volume after Port Said in Egypt, Durban in South Africa, Tanger Med in Morocco and Alexandria in Egypt. The Kenya Ports Authority management is undertaking huge infrastructure projects within the Port of Mombasa, Lamu Port, Shimoni Port and the Kisumu Port. Lamu Port’s berth Number 1 and Kisumu Port’s Sh33 billion facelift are also awaiting President Uhuru Kenyatta’s official opening. In Mombasa, Phase II of the Second Container Terminal (CT2) is 40 per cent complete since construction began in February 2019. Toyo Construction Co Ltd of Japan is undertaking Phase II of CT2. In an earlier interview, KPA Managing Director Dr Daniel Manduku said completion of Phase II of the Second Container Terminal will increase Mombasa port's container handling capacity by more than one million Total Equivalent Units (TEUs). Phase I of the Second Container Terminal, which was commissioned in 2016, can handle 550,000 TEUs, whereas Phase II can handle 450,000. Last year, the Port of Mombasa handled 1.2 million TEUs and it aims to handle  1.4 million TEUs by the end of this year. In September this year, the port already had handled 1.06 million TEUs (containers) compared to last year’s 957,568 TEUs within the same period — a 10.7 per cent increase. “Going by our daily handling of  3,500 TEUs and 4,000 TEUs, simple arithmetic tells us that...

Movement of goods and people, bilateral trade and investment are set to ease as Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo plan to jointly construct 1,200 kilometres of roads. The project includes 24 kilometres Bunagana-Goma road up to Rutshuru in DR Congo; a 977 kilometres road from Mpondwe border post in western Uganda to Beni in DR Congo and a 180 kilometres road from Goli in northern Uganda to Beni. DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and Uganda President Yoweri Museveni signed the agreement at the first Joint Business Forum held at the Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala. The forum sought to promote bilateral trade, investment and connectivity between the two countries. While launching the forum, Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa cited official trade data which shows that DR Congo is one of the key export markets for Uganda. Total exports for Uganda to DR Congo in 2018 stood at $532 million of which informal trade exports were worth $312 million, while formal trade accounted for $221 million. President Tshisekedi has been to Uganda over five times since coming into office last year as he works to strengthen bilateral ties. DR Congo is seeking to join the East African Community, which will further open up the country to trade with member states. The need for better road infrastructure between the two countries came to light early this year when Rwanda closed its border with Uganda. This slowed movement of goods as hundreds of trucks bound for the eastern DR Congo...

Uganda Revenue Authority has bowed to traders’ pressure to allow them to pay taxes for their goods when they enter Uganda.   The tax body had directed that all imported goods be cleared from the port of entry under the single customs territory. This meant that a trader would import goods and when they reach Mombasa or Dar-Es-Salaam, they pay taxes immediately and continue to the final destination – in this case, Uganda.  The directive, which was to start on October 20, 2019, also listed ten goods that would no longer be eligible for warehousing, including garments, motor vehicle and cycle tyres, sugar, and rice. But the traders rejected it, saying there are high chances that they will pay taxes for goods in Mombasa and lose them before they reach Kampala. They argued this would mean they made a double loss.   At a meeting at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala on Friday, URA officials seemed to go around the issue but traders led by leader Everest Kayondo insisted the tax body be clear on where they pay their taxes from.    Dickson Kateshumbwa, the URA commissioner for customs, told traders that they would not be forced to clear their goods from Mombasa.       Kateshumbwa, however, said 53 per cent of goods already pay taxes from the port of entry.  On the issue of bonded warehouses, Kateshumbwa said traders were using them to play games changing goods, their expiry dates to sell unsuspecting customers, and also there are leakages where traders sneak...

The East African Community (EAC) and the Development Bank of South Africa entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Africa Investment Forum held in Sandton from 11 to 13 November. CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi spoke to Kenneth Bagamuhunda, Director General, East African Community and Mohan Vivekanandan, Group Executive, Origination and Coverage at the DBSA about what the MOU entails. Source: CNBC Africa