Malawi’s leading commercial banker, Stock Exchange listed FDH Bank impressed the international stage and left an indelible mark at this year’s Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Durban, South Africa. FDH Plc, which is the only Malawian bank to have participated at the 2021, mounted a business stand at one of the continent’s biggest business trade fairs to showcase its business packages. Chippi Saka, a Malawian based in South Africa and working as a trade and market officer in the department of economic integration at the African Union Development Agency (AUDA) formerly NEPAD. NEPAD said he has been impressed by FDH bank’s level of excellence and commitment to quality banking services. Speaking in an interview with Nyasa Times from his base in one of the busiest cities on the African continent, Johannesburg, Saka who is also a qualified accountant, said: “FDH Bank is a very serious and forward-thinking bank and I am impressed with their professional demeanour at Africa Intra-African Trade Fair. “I have in the past four days been visiting the Malawi stand at the Intra-African Trade Fair. FDH bank is amazingly impressive – It is the most ‘impressive’ bank and the only bank from my land of birth showcasing their products and services.” Saka said FDH Bank is ticking all the right boxes in its quest to becoming an international bank adding that all its services are people-centred. Said Saka: “FDH Bank is meeting people’s needs. FDH is selling itself vigorously to world stage. FDH is repositioning. FDH is...

The President said the business communities should not view themselves as competitors but partners working together to meet the demands for goods and services in Kenya and South Africa. “You are not competitors. I think the big mistake we had made is by making each other competitors. We are not competing. We are here to satisfy the needs of our respective markets. Our problem is that we are not working together to meet the demands that our people have,” President Kenyatta said. President Kenyatta spoke on Tuesday when he and his host President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed a Kenya-South Africa business forum that was attended by over 250 business leaders from the two countries. The President said the business communities should not view themselves as competitors but partners working together to meet the demands for goods and services in Kenya and South Africa. “You are not competitors. I think the big mistake we had made is by making each other competitors. We are not competing. We are here to satisfy the needs of our respective markets. Our problem is that we are not working together to meet the demands that our people have,” President Kenyatta said. President Kenyatta spoke on Tuesday when he and his host President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed a Kenya-South Africa business forum that was attended by over 250 business leaders from the two countries. Read original article

Traders on the Kenya-Tanzania border in Lungalunga, Kwale County, have decried long clearance processes, prompting them to use alternative routes to ferry their goods and denying the government revenue. Speaking during a sensitisation campaign organised by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) at Horohoro on Monday, they said certifications needed for cross-border trade make them avoid using one-stop border posts. Such border posts were envisioned to help deepen policy integration and reduce barriers to trade between Kenya and its neighbours. Speaking during a sensitisation campaign organised by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) at Horohoro on Monday, they said certifications needed for cross-border trade make them avoid using one-stop border posts. Such border posts were envisioned to help deepen policy integration and reduce barriers to trade between Kenya and its neighbours. Cross Border Traders Association secretary Zipporah Kamau said lack of information had also made it difficult for traders to conduct business in legal ways. "Many traders use illegal routes because they are scared. They do not have passports and they don't know how much it costs to cross the border and also lack other necessary certifications that we are unaware of," she said. The challenges come as traders claim the Covid-19 pandemic and drought in most parts of the Coast region have made it difficult for them to sell fruits and food items in Tanzania. However, KRA Southern Region cross-border trade Chief Manager Agatha Munyaka said other than enforcement, the agency seeks to educate traders on the legal processes that must...

  With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) poised to generate potential gains of up to $450 billion according to the World Bank, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT) in Nairobi, in collaboration with OWIT Nigeria and OWIT Zimbabwe, are partnering to support African women entrepreneurs to participate in intra-regional trade. Speaking during the Africa Women Trade Conference organized by the two organizations on November 25 and 26, Aissatou Diallo, ITC Senior Coordinator for the AfCFTA and Least Developed Countries, said that trade under the AfCFTA would drive larger gains in earnings for businesswomen. Themed ‘Empowering Women in Intra-Africa Trade’, the conference encourages women entrepreneurs to trade cross continentally, taking advantage of the AfCFTA’s enormous potential for trade within the regional and continental markets. The conference further focuses on Africa’s investment opportunities while creating an opportunity for women entrepreneurs and business leaders to meet with investors. Supported by ITC’s One Trade Africa programme, the two-day hybrid event, with 200 participants on-site and 1,000 joining virtually, brings together traders, government agencies, financial institutions, investors, small businesses and local eco-system partners. Experts attending the conference say it is critical to establish what the AfCFTA means for women in terms of their participation in cross-border trade, value chains and public procurement from the onset. They also underscore women and youth are key stakeholders in continental economic development, as Africa’s informal sector accounts for 85% of the continent’s total economic activity; and while women account for 90% of the labour force in the informal...

  The Board and Council of TradeMark Africa (TMA) have today announced that Frank Matsaert, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), will step down as TMA’s CEO on 1st July 2022, after 12 years at the helm of the institution. A search for a new Chief Executive Officer has started. The Board and Frank have planned adequate time for this process to be completed, ensuring the next CEO is recruited and settles well before Frank’s departure. Frank established TMA in 2010 with a budget of US$60 million and had by close of 2020, mobilised over US$1.1 billion from TMA’s 11 donors for TMA’s successful programme.  Frank has led the organisation since its start in implementing an innovative and impactful aid-for-trade programme across 12 countries in Eastern, the Horn and Southern Africa. Over that time TMA has become a leading aid for trade agency globally.  Under his visionary leadership, the organisation has forged partnerships with partner Governments and trade agencies, Regional Economic Communities especially the EAC, the AFCFTA Secretariat, international trade organisations such as the WTO, multilateral agencies including the African Development Bank (AfDB), Trade Development Bank, the World Customs Organisation, UNCTAD and ITC, and the private sector The organisation aims to further expand its operations to support implementation of the AFCFTA over the coming years with its unique blend of trade facilitation partnerships supported by strong funding support from its growing donor base, commercial partners, and international foundations. Additionally, the organisation has secured a new funding envelope for West and Southern Africa...

Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has partnered with the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK), alias Posta, to tap into e-commerce business and intra-regional trade for its members. Speaking during the signing of the agreement, KAM’s CEO Phyllis Wakiaga said Posta’s network of more than 600 branches countrywide, and linkages with other postal organisations in the region would come in handy at a time when Africa is implementing the Africa free Continental Trade Area (AfCFTA). The partnership will see Posta offer same-day and overnight courier services, rider dedicated services, clearing and forwarding services to KAM and its members. The two parties also plan to implement programmes such as international courier services, direct mail marketing and training of KAM members on how to capitalise on the collaboration. In the new partnership, the two organisations will mobilise resources through training programmes, with a view to funding the operations and delivery of the objectives of the memorandum of understanding (MoU). The MoU will be implemented by a joint management committee that will be charged with coordination of collaborative activities, monitoring implementation of joint activities, and exploring emerging opportunities to deepen the partnership. Last month, the Postal Corporation of Kenya (Posta) received KSh72 million from Trade Mark East Africa (TMA), seeking to enhance its cross-border e-commerce deliveries. Under the deal, the Corporation says it intends to increase its capacity to process 10,000 packages daily to provide an efficient logistics and distribution platform for e-commerce entrepreneurs and customers. Read original article

About fifty small scale carrot farmers from MauNarok are set to benefit from the Voluntary Third Party Assurance project involving food safety. The project piloted in Nakuru County is being implemented in partnership with AfriFoods and, seeks to address the safety of carrots in the County as a rapidly expanding sector in the horticulture industry. Some of the issues to be addressed are production practices carried out by farmers, plant health, transportation and marketing aspects among other things. At the same time, 20 Trainers of trainers from Nakuru, Machakos and Kericho counties have undergone a one-week training on the KS 1758 code of practice for fruits and vegetables. While officially opening the workshop, County Director of Agriculture, Mr. Frederick Owino, said the County continues to add resources to champion for food safety within and outside the County. He added that the County together with it’s partners intend to lay foundations for the safety and traceability of carrots accounting for local as well as export produce for safe consumer consumption. Carrot traders in Nakuru undergoing the training Currently, the County says it has a food safety policy and wet market policy in place to cater for issues around food safety. It adds that implementation of the wet market is ongoing at the Free Area market as well as the construction of a smart market in Karai area in Naivasha sub-county. AfriFoods CEO, Dr. Jimmy Mutunga, said that it would be key if the standards were received and accepted by industry players...

In Summary It will KRA an opportunity to facilitate legitimate trade and collect the correct revenue, it says. This comes with the construction of a major road (Isiolo-Mandera) connecting the horn of Africa countries of Kenya, Somalia and to Ethiopia. Kenya Revenue Authority plans to establish posts at Rhamu and Mandera on the Ethiopia and Somali borders respectively. It will also put up a trade facilitation centre at Suftu,(Kenya-Ethiopia) and  construct two bridges to facilitate movement of goods and persons across the borders. The establishment of the One Stop Border Posts, supported by TradeMark Africa, is expected not only to spur growth in import and export trade but also provide an opportunity for legitimate trade and revenue collection. Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Lilian Nyawanda said KRA seeks to facilitate faster movement of goods and persons at the Kenya-Ethiopia border, and facilitate cross-border trade between Kenya and Somalia (upon opening of the borders). “Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia have long and porous common borders, with many potential locations for developing border posts to facilitate cross-border trade,” Nyawanda said in a statement on Tuesday. This comes with the construction of a major road connecting the Horn of Africa countries. The Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project (HoAGDP) road connects Kenya to Somalia and Ethiopia. The Isiolo-Mandera regional road corridor – the primary project area - traverses the North Eastern counties of Isiolo, Meru, Wajir, Mandera and Garissa. Last year, World Bank approved an Sh81 billion loan to upgrade half of the 750-kilometer Isiolo-Mandera...

Dar es Salaam. Members of the business community yesterday warned that the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will not materialise unless some pending trade barriers were addressed. The impediments to trade include lack of harmonisation of standards, failure to sign the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (Saatm) and the export of raw commodities. The list also includes visa and work permit requirements, multiple testing agencies, unnecessary roadblocks and random checks along transport corridors/roads and high cost of cross-border trade that may represent barriers to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The East African Business Council (EABC) trade and policy advisor, Mr Adrian Njau, said for AfCFTA to be successful, countries must address more non-tariff barriers and build regional value chains. “Only 13.6 percent of the product standards have been harmonised. This is a potential source of NTBs for cross-border trade in the continent,” he stated at the private sector’s meeting. The AfCFTA - whose trading started officially on January 1 this year - aims to bring continent-wide free trade to 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc that is Africa. Mr Njau said to create an internal market for African products, African markets must begin to manufacture value-added goods and deepen their regional value chains. The Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) executive director Francis Nanai said the AfCFTA objectives will remain elusive if local businesses were unable to take full advantage of the opportunities in terms of trade and investment. As it...

To set Africa firmly on the path towards economic and social transformation, private sector engagement is crucial. The African Union, has throughout the years worked closely with the private sector to define the great contribution and significant role the private sector plays in driving the economic development Agenda of the continent. The private sector in Africa accounts for over 80 per cent of total production, two thirds of total investment, and three fourths of lending within the economy. The sector also provides jobs for about 90 per cent of the employed working-age population. Further, Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) are the backbone of the African private sector accounting for over 90% of businesses in Africa and translating to 63% of employment in low-income countries while contributing to over 50% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa. Although trends in intra-African trade point toward progress, trade within Africa remains very low in proportion to total global trade, highlighting the need for enhanced intra-African trade. The tides however look promising with the launch of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA). The AFCFTA is expected to increase intra-African Trade by over 50 per cent, and will boost the continent’s GDP by more than $40 billion, and its exports by more than $55 billion. To promote private sector engagement, the African Union has implemented programmes that seek to form strategic partnerships with the private sector through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) engagements, including developing strategic partnerships with...