The Government has created a Huduma Whitebox one-stop shop website to encourage Kenyans with innovations to share and sell their ideas and innovations for support and promotion. The website, whitebox.go.ke created by the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs will also help innovators with good innovations receive facilities for start-ups. Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) for ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs Ms Maureen Mbaka, said innovators selected will benefit from expert guidance from a network of industry, legal, management and finance who will provide them with guidance and support on financing opportunities and access to market strategies. “The government will assist the chosen innovators with professional guidance and support to attract financial support, offer access to markets and link them to investors,” said Mbaka. She however, noted that priority will be given to products that focus on the Big 4 Agenda and address government priorities and challenges. The CAS was speaking during Africa Travel and Innovation Summit at Ole Sereni Hotel, in Nairobi. Ms Mbaka commended the aviation sector for revolutionizing air travel across the globe through new technologies which she said has improved security and flight operations, as well as made the flights more efficient and econ-friendlier. “We are proud of Kenya Airways’ Innovation Hub and the great strides it is making and the platform it is providing Kenyan youths to flex their creative geniuses,” said Mbaka. She added that the International Air Transport Association report on ‘Future of the Airline Industry 2035’ has identified cybersecurity, robotics and automation,...

Vice President Salous Chilima on Tuesday addressed the 21st Common Market for the Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) summit in Egypt with a call for the regional block to move swiftly in adopting digitalisation and developing economic recovery plans following the devastation of the Covid pandemic. Chilima—who during the Sadc Summit in Lilongwe urged member states to embrace digitilisation and e-government—is representing President Lazarus Chakwera at the summit. Advertisement He said there was urgent need for Comesa to develop a robust economic recovery plan in order to build back economies because soon Covid will no longer be an excuse to people. “The Covid pandemic has reversed some of the gains that we had achieved over years in our respective countries. We, as Malawi, also have had our fair share of the negative impact that the pandemic caused on the economy,” he said. Chilima said on regional level, the value of Comesa’s total exports to the world decreased by 27 percent from $123.4 billion in 2019 to $90.3 billion in 2020, while the value of Intra-Comesa total exports declined by 11 percent from $10.9 billion in 2019 to $9.7 billion in 2020. Advertisement “What is more worrying is that the uptake of vaccines in the region is currently less than three percent. Therefore, as a response, we need to develop a robust economic recovery plan. “We need to build back. We need to build resilience. Soon Covid 19 will no longer be an excuse to our people. As a regional group,...

Industrialisation is crucial for Africa’s development and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could provide crucial impetus in the coming years. Major challenges and opportunities for Africa’s transformation model present themselves continuously. African countries have responded to Covid-19 by resorting increasingly to digital solutions but to a lesser extent with greener, fiscal measures. Prospects for African manufacturing at this year’s Africa Industrialisation Day appear brighter than last year when Africa was in the middle of the largest economic crisis for decades. While economic recovery is still slow, appropriate support linked to the implementation of the AfCFTA can boost manufacturing prospects significantly. Progress in Africa’s manufacturing performance In a paper published earlier this year, Carlos Lopes and I argued that discussions around premature deindustrialisation (a decline in the contribution of manufacturing to GDP ahead of its normal development path) were in fact premature in relation to many African countries. Taking recent World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI) data for the subset for sub-Saharan African countries, the share of manufacturing in GDP in 2020 was 12%, the same as it was in 2002, but up from as low as 9.2% in 2010. Despite the downturn in 2020, annual growth in real manufacturing value added was 3.3% over the decade to 2020 (up from 3% in the previous decade), significantly better than the 2.8% (and 1.9% respectively) annual growth for the world as a whole. Some countries have really transformed their industrial sector in recent years. Morocco surpassed South...

Effects of Covid-19 pandemic on Mombasa Port cargo in 2020 led to a marginal decline of 0.9 per cent while container traffic reduced by four per cent. However, acting Kenya Ports Authority Managing director John Mwangemi said notable resilience has been observed this year. During the January-September 2021 period, the Port handled some 26.17 million tonnes compared to 25.05 million tonnes in the corresponding period in 2020, noted Mwangemi. "This is an increase of 1.12 million tonnes translating to a growth of 4.4 per cent. In the same period, the port witnessed increased volumes in container traffic registering 1.1 million TEUs against one million TEUs recorded in a similar period in 2020, translating to an increase of 9.3 per cent," he added. He made the remarks during the annual KPA Corporate Golf Tournament played over the weekend at the Mombasa Golf Club, where he was represented by KPA General Manager Corporate Services, Edward Kamau. On ongoing key infrastructural projects being carried out by KPA, Mwangemi said the construction of the second container terminal (CT2) Phase II is on course. "Phase I has been operational since 2016. Phase II is ongoing and shall be ready by mid-2022. Once ready, the container capacity of the Port of Mombasa shall grow from 1.65 million TEUs to 2.2 million TEUs," he said. In regards to supporting the energy sector, the MD pointed out that KPA has progressed significantly in the construction of a bigger and modern oil terminal. He explained that the new Kipevu Oil Terminal will have facilities...

Kenya’s negotiators and implementers are in the final stages to make the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (“AfCFTA”) a reality for many Kenyan businesses. “Access to relevant and timely information regarding the implementation of AfCFTA is an important aspect of enabling businesses prepare and take advantage of the Agreement”. says Mr. Maurice Mwaniki, an Associate Director at PwC. He argues that local businesses want to know how ongoing negotiations will affect their strategies and whether the taxman, being the implementing agency, is ready to facilitate trade under the program. KRA Approves procurement & publishes AfCFTA documents The Kenya Revenue Authorityin August 2021 approved procurement and subsequent publishing of AfCFTA trading documents according to Ms. Kavata Mutuku, a representative of the Trade Facilitation arm at the Customs and Border Control Department. Ms Mutuku noted that the Customs system and procedures are currently being reviewed and aligned to accommodate trade under AfCFTA and that the tax authority is currently sensitising its own staff, the private sector and other stakeholders through a number of capacity building programmes. The AfCFTA could only come into force once it had been ratified by at least 22 countries; so far 42 countries are ratified, consequently, the Agreement was entered into force on 30 May 2019 with the initial expectation being that trade under the AfCFTA would start by 1 July 2020. Owing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the launch of the AfCFTA was postponed, eventually taking place on 1 January 2021, and thereby marking the official start...

The Secretary General of the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO), Dr Hermogene Nsengimana, has called on African governments to strengthen their standards regulation agencies to position them as the springboard for economic development. He said standards played a critical role in the competitiveness of businesses and must be prioritised while the continent implemented the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement to reap the benefits of the world's biggest trade bloc. Dr Nsengimana made the call at the 65th meeting of the ARSO Council in Accra last Wednesday. The ARSO Council members, who are heads of the standards organisations of member states, have met in Accra to identify a means of facilitating seamless intra-Africa trade through harmonised infrastructure. The meeting is taking place amidst calls to accelerate the harmonisation of standards in the region to achieve the objectives of the AfCFTA. It is being held under the theme: “The beginning of trade among African countries under the AfCFTA Agreement: Boosting intra-African trade within the African single market through ‘One Standard–One Test–One Certificate–Accepted Everywhere”. Harmonisation In order to reap the benefits of the free trade agreement, Dr Nsengimana said the ease of doing business in the region must be deepened by eliminating trade barriers and harmonising standards. “When we talk about one standard, we are talking about harmonisation and we are looking at equal collaboration or mutual recognition arrangement so that we can help our private sector to trade from Ghana to Kenya or South Africa with one standard so that...

The World Trade Organization's (WTO) forthcoming 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), to be held from 30 November to 3 December, comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted human and economic activities and heightened the significance of trade-related responses to accompany other global initiatives. Enhancing the participation of developing countries, including Commonwealth least developed countries (LDCs), in the multilateral trading system is indispensable because trade is an essential tool for growth and development. The WTO LDC Group, which includes eleven of the thirteen Commonwealth LDCs, have prepared and advanced proposals on their priorities and expected outcomes at MC12.[1] The below analysis by Colin Zhuawu, Economic Adviser (Multilateral Trade), Trade, Oceans and Natural Resources Directorate of the Commonwealth Secretariat, assesses the priorities of Commonwealth LDCs at MC12 and suggests possible strategies to pursue a favourable outcome. Multilateral Negotiating Issues Agriculture Discussions on Agriculture focus on several disciplines intended to correct trade distortions in agricultural trade, encompassing domestic support, export competition and market access. The discussions provide an opportunity for developing and least developed countries to address their food security needs through a Special Safeguard Mechanism and provision on Public Stockholding (PSH). Reductions in trade distorting domestic support by the world's largest subsidisers is imperative to improve access to markets for farmers in Commonwealth LDCs. Due to the highly complex and technical nature of deliberations on domestic support, a realistic outcome at MC12 would be agreement to initiate a specific work programme post-MC12 on the necessary reductions. However, Commonwealth LDCs might...

With a landmass bigger than India, China, the US and Europe combined, few doubt the scale of the African continent and its resources. However, until recently, only some have seen it as the growth market that it is fast becoming. Africa has grown its economy by five per cent annually over the last decade. With its population steadily growing towards two billion, the continent is projected to have the largest workforce by 2040. Also, with a collective GDP of $2.6 trillion by 2020 and $1.4 trillion of consumer spending, many see the impact of around 500m new middle-class consumers. After witnessing its worst recession in half a century in 2020, Africa’s economy is forecast to grow at a healthy pace of 3.8 per cent in 2021, driven by rising global demand as restrictions are eased, untapped market opportunities, a rebound in commodity prices and a rise in oil prices. While Africa’s vastness and diversity allow for entrepreneurship to flourish across communities, it also poses challenges to creating universal solutions for issues such as poverty and food security, because each country has its unique capacity for innovation. For instance, while Ethiopia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya ranked in the top 10 fastest growing economies worldwide in 2020, the continent still holds some of the poorest nations in the world. African economies are not the same in design. We have the oil exporters: Nigeria, Angola, Libya and Algeria; and the more diversified economies found in Egypt, South Africa and Morocco. Then...

SUMMARY Parliament proposed amendments to the Advocates Act, saying lawyers from the two countries qualify for similar treatment as their counterparts from Uganda and Tanzania. The amendments if approved will change Section 12 of the Advocates Act, which currently only allows Ugandan and Tanzanian lawyers to practice in Kenya. The proposed changes come barely a month after the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee blocked Rwandan and Burundian lawyers from practising in Kenya. Advocates from Rwanda and Burundi will be allowed to work in Kenya if Parliament adopts proposed changes to the law in line with the spirit of the East African Community (EAC). Parliament proposed amendments to the Advocates Act, saying lawyers from the two countries qualify for similar treatment as their counterparts from Uganda and Tanzania. Rwandan and Burundian advocates were in 2019 locked out from practising locally, a move that MPs say contravenes the spirit of the EAC. “The Bill proposes to include an advocate of the High Court of Rwanda and an advocate of the High Court of Burundi as being eligible for admission as an advocate in Kenya,” the Bill reads in its memorandum. The amendments if approved will change Section 12 of the Advocates Act, which currently only allows Ugandan and Tanzanian lawyers to practice in Kenya. The Judiciary and the Council for Legal Education (CLE) have previously raised concerns on the lack of uniformity in the qualifications for admission to study law degree and to join the respective bars of the EAC member States....

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni has acknowledged the economic strides made by Tanzania in the area of infrastructures, and the increase in trade and investment being driven by the spirit of hard work, thereby boosting the country’s economy. President Museveni disclosed this after visiting the Dar es Salaam Port expansion and the execution of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), to witness the progress of the country’s key strategic projects in Dar es Salaam, on Sunday. At the Dar Port, he was able to make a tour at berth number 10 and 11 and also witnessed the Dar es Salaam main station built in the form of a Tanzanite mineral, rare gemstone only found in Tanzania. According to him, transporting freight by means of railway is considered effective, easier and saves time, taking into account that trains have the ability to move large volumes of cargo in a single trip. “The railway line is anticipated to boost the economies of our East African countries,” said President Museveni, who is in the country for a three-day state visit. Earlier, the Minister for Works and Transport, Prof Makame Mbarawa, said the implementation of the modern railway construction project is going to link the Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania and Port Bell in Uganda, which are crucial for the economies of the two coun- tries and EAC through Lake Victoria. Prof Mbarawa noted that the process would thereby help fast- track loading and off-loading as well as reduce cargo congestion at the ports. He...