That’s the main conclusion from a new report Africa’s Development Dynamics  Achieving Productive Transformation, published by the African Union (AU) and the OECD on November 5. As it stands, productive transformation is not taking off, especially in the employment-intensive sectors where it is most needed, the report finds. Far from catching up, Africa is falling further behind emerging markets in Asia. The Africa-to-Asia labour productivity ratio has decreased from 67% in 2000 to 50% today, the report finds. African exports of consumption goods to African markets decreased between 2009 and 2016, both in dollar terms and relative to the continent’s GDP. “Without a strong and co-ordinated policy push,” the report says, “African firms risk losing out to new global competitors.” About 42% of Africa’s working youth live on less than $1.90 a day and only 12% of Africa’s working-age women were in waged employment in 2016, according to the report. The number of people on that income level increased by 31 million between 1999 and 2015 to 407 million. In some countries, almost 91% of the non-agricultural labour force remain in informal employment. The annual total of 29 million new entrants to Africa’s labour markets risks becoming a cumulative addition to the jobless total. If jobs for them are not found in one year, they will need to be created the next year. Clusters key Many entrepreneurs lack basic capabilities, the report finds. Most youth entrepreneurs in Côte d’Ivoire and Madagascar lack skills in areas such as bookkeeping, multi-year planning and human resources. The AU and...

The Irish Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Ms. Heather Humphreys will lead Enterprise Ireland’s trade mission to Kenya as the nation seeks opportunities in Kenya’s agriculture, education and construction sectors. The two-day trade mission will take place between November 14 and 15, where Irish companies and government officials will have opportunities to discuss areas of mutual co-operation with their Kenyan counterparts. The trade mission aims to raise awareness of Ireland as a source of world-class products, services, and technologies. As Europe’s fastest-growing economy with the fastest growing tech population in Europe, Irish businesses are making a global impact, delivering innovative solutions to business partners across the globe. Coupled with a thriving startup ecosystem and having one of the world’s most resilient supply chains, Ireland is delivering a big impact on many industries globally. Several Irish companies are additionally expected to announce deals they have secured in various sectors over the two-day period. Latest data from Enterprise Ireland indicates that Ireland exported goods and services worth €29.405 million (Ksh3.35 billion) to Kenya in 2018 comprising of food, industrial, life sciences, and consumer products. “With Kenya currently pursuing the ‘Big Four’ agenda, part of which includes widening Universal Healthcare (UHC), there are aligned opportunities for Kenyan and Irish companies. This is a promising market for Irish companies that have excelled in the delivery of quality and affordable medical devices. As a world leader in agri-technology and agri-engineering Irish companies have also excelled in the dairy industry which is an important sector for Kenya. We...

THE East African Community (EAC) integration process is on course, and a significant number of achievements have been registered in all four pillars of the unification. The pillars are Customs Union, Common Market, Monetary Union and Political Federation. Under Customs Union, harmonisation of cross-border rules and procedures have catapulted intra-regional trade from 2.7 billion US Dollars in 2016 to 2.9 billion US Dollars in 2017 and to 3.2 billion last year. The second East African Community Development Partner Group (DPG) Thematic Groups (TGs) meeting on Infrastructure and Economic Integration that was convened at the EAC Headquarters in Arushheard further that on the free movement of persons, there is no visa fee requirements for East Africans travelling across the region. The EAC Deputy Secretary General (DSG) in-charge of Productive and Social Sector, Mr Christophe Bazivamo, informed the members that some partner states allow use of national identity cards as travelling documents and that the countries were issuing the International East African e-Passport that facilitates travel within the region and beyond. On infrastructure development, the DSG informed the delegates that the EAC partner states were jointly implementing regional infrastructure projects that had been agreed upon by the biennial infrastructure development retreats by the Summit of EAC Heads of State. Mr Bazivamo disclosed to the development partners that on the EAC Political Federation, that EAC will launch the national stakeholders' consultations on the Draft Constitution for the EAC Political Confederation before the end of the month. "EAC partner states have nominated two constitution...

A team of experts is traversing the Northern Corridor trade route, surveying the road network as they look to promote trade within the Great Lakes region. According to the traffic Boss Stephen Kasiima, while poor road construction is a factor for the many road accidents along on Uganda’s roads, the situation is made worse by the poor behaviour of road users. Source: NTV

A STANDARD gauge railway (SGR) project that will link Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo with the Dar es Salaam port is one among major projects that will feature in the Africa Investment Forum that begun in Johannesburg yesterday. The President of African Development Bank, the organiser of the forum, Dr Akinwumi Adesina said the SGR project currently being undertaken by the Tanzania’s government using local resources would be on the table in the forum that has brought together global multilateral development and finance institutions and investors to tackle the continent’s infrastructure investment challenges and advance Africa’s economic transformation agenda. The three-day Africa Investment Forum billed a game-changer to tilt capital flow into the continent has been organised by the African Development Bank and partners in Sandton Convention Centre to advance projects, raise capital and close financial deals. Around 2000 delegates were expected to attend the innovative investment marketplace which has brought together heads of state, project sponsors, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors in 60 boardroom sessions to move projects from commitment to action. And the organisers of the forum are adamant that it will not be a talk shop but a unique platform to close financial deals for major projects that will boost economic growth and development in the continent. Africa Investment Forum is not a talk show. We deliver,” said Dr Adesina at the opening ceremony. “We promised (during the inaugural forum last year) and we delivered. We’re changing the investment narrative of Africa.” “When we laid...

Intra-regional trade within the East African Community (EAC) bloc rose by 10.3 per cent last year, courtesy of harmonisation of cross-border rules and procedures. "Reforms taken under the Customs Union has also boosted intra-regional trade," Mr Christophe Bazivamo, EAC deputy secretary general responsible for productive and social sectors, said in Arusha yesterday. He said intra-EAC trade catapulted to $3.2 billion last year from $2.7 billion in 2016 and $2.9 billion in 2017. Mr Bazivamo disclosed this here at the just concluded second meeting of the EAC Development Partners' Group (DPG). The meeting held at the EAC headquarters deliberated on key aspects of the economic integration and infrastructure development. Officials at the EAC secretariat officials say there was "no one rule or procedure" introduced but insisted generally most of the trade procedures within the region have been simplified. They cite the operationalisation of the EAC Single Customs Territory (SCT), the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) and One Stop Border Post (OSBP) and their respective rules and regulations as having a multiplier effect on the ease of doing business in the region. Also Read Tanzania Government rules out intervention as food prices soar Tanzania Government scraps 36 water authorities over cost Huawei's latest technology to bring high-speed internet in Tanzania Alongside with these is enhanced customs operations inter-connectivity in the region which has seen the introduction of Electronic Cargo Tracking System to monitor the movement of traded goods across the region. Mr Bazivamo told representatives of development partners that despite a host of...

Kenya’s main port of Mombasa handled 9% more cargo in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period in 2018, due to greater handling capacity and more cargo headed to its neighbouring countries, its operator said. Mombasa, a gateway to east and central Africa, handles imports and exports for Kenya and other countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Burundi. The port handled 25.45 million tonnes of cargo between January and September compared to 23.36 million tonnes registered during a similar period in 2018, an increase of 2.09 million tons. Container traffic increased by 10.7% to 1.06 million Twenty feet equivalent units (TEUS) over the nine-month period while cargo destined for other countries was up 136.8% to 1.87 million tons from 791,257 tonnes realised during a similar period in 2018. Mombasa port was expanded in 2012 in work that included construction of a new container terminal and dredging to allow bigger vessels access to the port. The first phase of the expansion project partially-financed by Japan was inaugurated in 2016. This new container terminal alone “handled 381,288 TEUs in the period January – September 2018/2019, which is equivalent to 36.0 percent of the total container traffic handled in the Port”, Daniel Manduku, the port’s managing director, said in a report seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Kenya is also building a second port in Lamu, north of Mombasa, with a capacity of 23 million tonnes per year. Source: Reuters

$3tn GDP growth opportunity if the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is fully implemented Biggest potential economic gain and business opportunities will be from from growth in trade between African nations Countries with open economies and significant cross-border trade set to benefit most quickly South Africa, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya and Morocco will grow most from AfCFTA Conflicts with older regional free trade agreements a major hurdle Manufacturing among sectors with biggest growth opportunities Success dependent on African countries putting rules, regulations and mechanisms in place around Rules of Origin, digital payments and the elimination of non-tariff barriers. New research from global law firm Baker McKenzie and Oxford Economics – AfCFTA's US$ 3 trillion Opportunity: Weighing Existing Barriers against Potential Economic Gains - shows that if fully implemented, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will unlock significant but uneven growth opportunities on the continent. The African Union is putting the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) into operation. It will be the world's largest free trade area by number of countries and is so far in force across 27 countries. Open economy key to success Some countries are currently better placed than others to reap the rewards of intraregional trade and numerous obstacles mean that the tangible benefits of the agreement will likely only be realized from 2030. The report finds countries with good existing trade integration with their neighbours and which have open economies are most likley to benefit economically from lower trade tariffs. For example, South...

THE Minister for Industry and Trade Innocent Bashungwa has asked investors to utilize the immense investment opportunities as the government is continuing to create enabling business environment. The Minister said investors should not become victims of the negative propaganda aimed at tarnishing the image of the country, noting there are fare criticisms that have made the ministry to adopt some reforms, but others are mere propagandas with ill intention. He made the remarks as the American Chamber Of Commerce (AMCHAM) Tanzania’s sixth annual thanksgiving dinner held in Dar es Salaam over the weekend. “It is so unfortunate that there are some investors who have become victims of such propaganda, but through you (AMCHAM) I hope we can tell the world that Tanzania is transforming to make a better environment to do business.” The government is continuing to make Tanzania a better place to do business. The future is bright and with a collective effort it will be even brighter, he exclaimed. Adding that, “Our efforts are focusing on making sure the existing businesses are supported and we continue to create an enabling environment so that they can do even better.” “Your testimonies to the world on how Tanzania is changing are more convincing and persuasive to prospective investors than the minister of Industry and Trade attending forums to talk about how well we are doing,” Bashungwa said. The government is investing in public infrastructure to support production of companies. There is also a new outlook of Tanzania, with the heavy...

“The longer we take, the longer it will take us time to develop, we will have nobody else to blame instead let’s point fingers at ourselves. If we will not involve women let us stop pointing fingers at any other person because we have our means and ways of how to liberate ourselves so the time for blame game is over, it’s us on stage to make decisions to include more women in decision making,” she said. She made the remarks during the EAC Arts and Culture Festival themed around culture diversity, as a key driver to regions integration economic growth and promotion of tourism which attracted high profile government officials from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and the host Tanzania. According to her, when you look at the unifications of German and Italy which took four years to come into force, they also had some other interest to protect their countries but, instead they looked at the bigger picture and right now they are ruling the world…… “So can we move now, can we forget about other small differences and concentrate on the bigger interest of the children and future greater grandchildren.” She further stressed that it is a deliberate means and efforts for the East Africa countries to bring women on board to walk side by side with men, the process will be much easier when women are involved. Especially that women were peace makers, women never start wars but it is their counterparts who starts wars and women...