Paul Mitei, a farmer from Kiptoben Village, Nakuru County, Kenya started growing avocados because other farmers in his community were also growing them AdobeStock 244722424NASFPA members have harvested 25,000 kgs of avocado for export so far, earning about US$22,500. (Image source: Adobe Stock) But due to poor crop management skills, the fruit yields were low with almost no profits. “Before the Forest and Farm Facility Programme (FFF) reached out to us, I faced many challenges in marketing the avocado produce from my farm,” says Paul. Paul furthers adds that he wanted to know more about how the avocado and tomato value chains worked, and the essential inputs that are critical to avocado cultivation, and meeting market demands. To improve his knowledge, he joined the Nakuru Small Holder Fruit Producers Association (NASFPA), with the hope of growing the sales of his farm produce. “Being a member of NASFPA, I am now well informed about how better market access can benefit from the FFF project. The initiative also gave me the opportunity to export my produce to Europe,” Paul said. He now produces high value fruits and sells together with his fellow NASFPA members. He has close to 104 avocado fruit trees, out of which 15 trees became fully matured last year. He harvested 500 kgs of fruit, and sold them for US$600. Farmers' organisations support farmers' livelihoods The Nakuru Small Holder Fruit Producers Association (NASFPA) was formed in July 2016, with support from the Forest and Farm Facility, a partnership involving...

The Africa World Trade Network (AWTN) has partnered the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to accelerate intra-regional trade and investment through exhibitions, meetings and events. The partnership seeks to mobilise private sector actors across Africa to drive the attainment of strategic objectives that underpin the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement. The partnership between AWTN and the AfCFTA Secretariat is meant to work towards three common objectives that support continental trade and investment promotions across Africa and promote the overall objectives of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: To co-organise and host forums that support continental trade and investment promotions in Africa and promote the overall objectives of the AfCFTA Agreement To support the growth and development of Africa’s commercial community; and To collaborate on matters of common interest, in the pursuance of enhancing intra-trade in the Continent Speaking at the signing ceremony, Board Chair of AWTN, Otwasuom Osae Nyampong VI, said: “Intra-regional trade promises a real win for Africa, and the AfCFTA Secretariat is at the forefront of this significant progress in the continent’s history; it is a second Pan-African victory after Independence. AWTN on its part has recognised this watershed moment and will act as a catalyst to boost trade relations among member states and businesses across the continent.” Otwasuom Osae Nyampong VI emphasised: “Like the AfCFTA Secretariat, AWTN is headquartered in Accra, which has been recognised as a beacon for transformative development in the sub-region. In this partnership, AWTN commits to initiate and escalate...

Kenya hosted a Country Roadshow to raise awareness about the substantial benefits of attending the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2021). Organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, IATF2021 will take place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa from 15 to 21 November 2021. Hon. Betty Maina, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise, Kenya said: “The South-South Co-operation created opportunities for our people, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will lead to great things going forward. Inward-looking policies hindered trade, the East African Community and COMESA harnessed opportunities.” In her keynote address, Ms Kanayo Awani, Managing Director of Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Initiative said: “Our expectation at Afreximbank is a continent where the 110 borders that divide the 55 atomistic States have been significantly reduced by digital technologies Afreximbank is championing alongside the AU and AfCFTA; a continent where a trader first looks across the border for market opportunities and not to far away lands; an Africa where differences in language, currencies and resource endowments become enablers and not disablers of trade and economic transformation: a continental free trade agreement that is thriving not on the basis of donor grants but on the platform of African financial institutions; and an Africa that finally begins to earn the respect of others in the global markets.” Hon. Ravi Pillay, MEC for Economic Development, Tourism & Environmental Affairs said: “Economic transformation is about local production, trade on...

The Government of Ethiopia is set to introduce a Simplified Trade Regime (STR) to allow its small scale traders to legally trade with Kenya through the Moyale border. The STR is a scheme that allows informal traders to benefit from a simplification of formalities at the border with exoneration from payment of customs duties and taxes referred to transactions under a threshold value which in the COMESA region is currently of USD 2,000 per consignment. Launched by COMESA in 2010, the STR is based on the Revised Kyoto Convention on the Simplification and Harmonisation of Customs Procedures (Transitional Standard 4.13), that encourages Customs to exonerate from payment of customs duties and taxes for transactions under a threshold to be specified by the national legislation. This measure aims at facilitating trade of goods whose value is of negligible amount, by simplifying the paperwork for informal and small-scale traders. One of the conditions for COMESA Member States to implement the STR, is that they must participate to the COMESA Free Trade Area (FTA). However, also those countries not participating to such FTA, like Ethiopia, can develop specific bilateral arrangements or Protocols with their neighbors in order to introduce simplified regimes equivalent to the STR. In practice, such Agreements or Protocols indicate a list, approved by both the exporting and importing country, of products originating from the territory of their counterpart that can be traded duty-free benefiting from simplified procedures at the border, like the lodgment to Customs of a simplified customs declaration...

How do you evaluate the textile and garment industry in Kenya? The textiles and apparels sector is the most labour intensive sector of the manufacturing industry. It has the ability to create a large number of employment opportunities within a short duration of time. This explains the national and regional special focus on the sector. The development of the sector’s farm–fashion value chain presents the country with immense opportunities in cotton farming, textile mills and apparel/fashion industry. First, the sector is considered as a creator of mass employment across low to high skill sets. A fully developed value chain has the capacity to employ about 10% of the country’s population. Additionally, cotton farming and apparels manufacturing are very labour intensive; thus being a source of much-needed employment opportunities. The value chain is also an important driver of inclusivity as it employs women in excess of 60%. The textiles and apparels sector is currently a critical foreign exchange earner in the manufacturing industry. Kenya as at now is the largest exporter of apparel under AGOA with about Ksh. 47billion worth of exports in 2019 and Ksh 39 billion in 2020. With the changes in the global apparels sourcing supply chain in the world, Kenya has been able to attract a substantial number of world buyers and these figures can grow when we enhance our competitiveness and diversify our markets. Lastly, the sector provides an opportunity for the enhancement of industrialization within the country and region through forwarding and backward linkages with other...

Representatives of Kenya and the United States agreed to deepen trade engagement to promote the interests of both countries. Kenya is seeking to negotiate and conclude a trade agreement with the United States. In a statement Tuesday, Industrialization and Trade CS Betty Maina said officials agreed to deepen trade engagement to promote the interests of the two countries. Maina held virtual consultations Monday evening with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. According to the SC, Ambassador Tai observed that the United States was interested in a work-centered approach to trade policy that fits into the Biden-Harris administration's overall trade policy... For his part, CS Maina expressed Kenya's desire to conclude a trade deal that gives confidence to investors while preserving the country's commitments under its regional, continental and multilateral trade agreements. It comes weeks after Kenya and the UK agreed to use blockchain technology to unlock trade logistics. This was done through the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Institute of Export and International Trade and Trade Mark East Africa at the Kenya High Commission in London. The MoU provides a framework for collaboration to implement a digital trade corridor between the UK and Kenya. The UK-Kenya Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP) aims to eliminate paperwork and introduce a digital process that increases visibility upstream and downstream of supply chains. The system uses blockchain technology to connect all actors in the supply chain, thus seeking to enable rapid logistics clearance and easier trade. Speaking at the reception hosted by...

The small scale business community in Moyale, Ethio-Kenya border urges the government to come up with an initiative to back their activity from both sides. The Ethiopian side said that it is in the final stages to introduce a protocol that will allow the community in the two border countries’ area to trade and move goods easily. Ethiopian Customs Commission disclosed that it is getting a lesson from Nairobi, which has more experience on One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) with its East African Community peers like Tanzania and Uganda, in order to make effective the Moyale OSBP. On the discussion held between small scale traders at the two Moyales and the customs officers of Kenya and Ethiopia, traders appreciated the improvement of activities at the boarder since Moyale OSBP became operational starting from the first week of June. While on the discussion held at the Ethiopian side of OSBP, traders expressed their desire to see improvements on the border trade particularly on the Ethiopian side to ease the transportation of commodities to the Kenyan Moyale border. One of the traders said that the situation from the Kenyan side is good and requested the Ethiopian side to smoothen the border trade similar to Kenya. Abebe Ersumo, Deputy Head for Operation at Moyale Customs Branch of Ethiopian Customs Commission (ECC), said that the OSBP, which was inaugurated on December 9, 2020 by the head of governments of the two countries had become operational as of June 9, and has since then been successfully...

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) says its Booster Program targeting 2000 Micro, Small and Medium sized enterprises (MSMES) has surpassed the set target with over 2,500 MSMES receiving training on various issues. Launched on launched on 25th February 2021, the training covered Introduction to e-commerce, digital marketing, aftersales, content creation & management. KEPSA says 1300 businesses were on-boarded onto various ecommerce marketplaces to increase and diversify their revenue streams hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The MSMEs targeted by the program were struggling with their digital brand presence with majority of the MSMES reporting they were either unaware of missed opportunities or did not have a digital brand strategy, which means they were edged out by their counterparts already offering their products and services online. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause disruptions in global and regional value chains, it is clear that e-commerce is an important tool and solution for both businesses and consumers. E-commerce can support small businesses in reducing their costs and effectively reaching their customers; it is an economic driver for both domestic growth and international trade that makes economies more competitive. The COVID-19 pandemic has occasioned a spike in business-to-consumers (B2C) online sales and an increase in Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce. The increase in B2C sales is particularly evident in online sales of medical supplies, household essentials and food products. As a result, attention has been drawn to several challenges hindering the full potential of ecommerce across countries. During the program, MSMEs gained the digital skills...

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is the world's leading shipping organization, accounting for about 80 per cent of global merchant tonnage. An ICS study published in March this year titled Protectionism in Maritime Economies found that reducing restrictive trade policies could boost Africa's post-COVID-19 economic recovery by billions of dollars. For Africa Renewal, Finbarr Toesland interviewed ICS Secretary-General Guy Platten on a range of shipping and trade-related issues, including how the organisation can support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The interview was edited for brevity. Africa Renewal: Let's talk about the ICS' recent study. What were its most striking findings, particularly those relating to trade? What we found in the report is that non-tariff barriers have a disproportionate effect on GDP and getting rid of them could make a considerable difference in terms of actually increasing a country's wealth. We know that African nations could boost their prospects of a post-COVID-19 economic recovery by removing some of these restrictive maritime trade policies. Currently, the global maritime trade is worth $14 trillion. Africa has a lot of potentials to become a maritime trade hub. We are suggesting that if members of the African Union were to just halve their trade restrictions, that could lead to a 1 per cent increase in GDP for an average African economy. What are some of the measures that countries can take to improve trade? Protectionist measures really hinder free trade. There are many administrative hurdles to overcome in many countries just...

.Lauds JPM for keeping economy open amid Covid-19 THE East African Business Council (EABC) has called for a deeper collaboration between the Public and Private sectors to boost East African Community (EAC) intra-trade. Also, the council has lauded President John Magufuli for a job well done, especially in spearheading major economic reforms in the country. Amid the global economic disruptions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, EAC private sector wants to steer better relations as a strategy to boost trade and investment in the region. The leaders noted that the decision by President Magufuli to keep the economy open, offered the private sector a major relief in terms of business resilience as it also strengthened local supply chains. EABC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Peter Mathuki said that is the spirit for the region - both public and private sector to move forward and business to prosper. It came about after consultations of CEOs at a roundtable meeting organized by the EABC in collaboration with German Development Agency (GIZ) with a theme 'Creating Perspectives Project', convening companies' CEOs with an aim of deliberating on approaches that the private sector can explore to revamp businesses amid the pandemic. Tanzania took absolutely a different approach in dealing with Covid-19, by President Magufuli who seeks a second term in office led the nation in style, by ruling out lockdown, letting business go on but with taking reasonable protective measures and it paid handsomely. In spite of the situation in the bloc, Africa and world...