In Summary Traders from both sides of the border cross over to buy and sell grains and fruits, defying Covid-19 restrictions. Many Ugandans trading in Malaba said Kenya is their primary market and they have no option but make the short trip across. Small-scale grocery and fruit traders from Kenya and Uganda have returned to business in Malaba despite a ban on cross-border movement. Traders from both sides of the border cross over to buy and sell grains and fruits, defying Covid-19 restrictions to make ends meet. Many Ugandans trading in Malaba said Kenya is their primary market and they have no option but make the short trip across. Richard Maasai, a Ugandan a wholesaler of ripe bananas in Malaba, Kenya said business has been badly hit by the border closure. “Since the border was shut, we have not been selling our stock. We have been forced to cross the border because we need money. Taking care of our families has been difficult.” Maasai said local prices for the fruit have skyrocketed due to restrictions on the Ugandan side of the border. He buys the bananas from Mbale in eastern Uganda and ferries them using friendly cargo truck drivers. Maasai sends the money to drivers to bring the goods. Once delivered, he crosses the border into Kenya where he sells during the day and returns home to Uganda in the evening. “We are appealing to the Kenyan and Ugandan governments to reopen the border. Our businesses are dying. We will...

With three of the eight candidates to become the next leader of the World Trade Organization (WTO) coming from Africa, BBC Africa business editor Zawadi Mudibo looks at what difference having one of them at the helm would make for the continent. There is a growing feeling among African diplomats that someone from the continent should be at the helm of one of the world's top economic institutions. Whereas an American has always led the World Bank and a European has always been at the head of the International Monetary Fund, an African has never taken an equivalent position. But if one from Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Kenya's Amina Mohamed or Egypt's Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh emerges from the long selection process as the WTO's next director-general, the continent can feel that it is playing in the same league as the rest of the world. image captionGarment factories, like this one in Kenya, could benefit if trade opened up The WTO sets the rules for global trade and adjudicates in trade disputes between nations. It is also, according to its website, supposed to "open trade for the benefit of all". The Geneva-based organisation's ability to get global agreements of basic principles that every country signs up to has been hamstrung in recent years but the WTO leader has influence and a bully pulpit. The director-general attends G7 and G20 meeting and can broker disputes between world leaders. But is there more to be gained for the continent aside from the diplomatic profile? 'Trade...

Nairobi — Kenya's volume of trade rose from Sh169.65 billion in June 2020 to Sh190.76 billion in July 2020. This is according to a study conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics which also reveals that the value of total exports increased from Sh48.05 billion in June 2020 to Sh52.00 billion in July 2020. Meanwhile, the value of imports increased from Sh121.60 billion in June 2020 to Sh138.76 billion in July 2020. Domestic exports by Broad Economic Category (BEC) indicated that food and beverages were the main export category in July 2020 accounting for 46.06 percent of exports, while non-food industrial supplies accounted for 22.29 percent of the total exports. The quantity of coffee exported decreased from 5,414.08 MT in June 2020 to 3,546.25 MT in July 2020 and its value dropped from Sh2,956.33 million to Sh1,799.26 million over the same period. The quantity of tea exported increased from 46,399.01 MT in June 2020 to 46,850.57 MT in July 2020. However, the value of exported tea dropped from Sh10,293.00 million to Sh10,013.83 million over the same period. Imports by BEC indicate that non-food industrial supplies were the main import category in July 2020 with a share of 39.35 percent. Machinery & other capital equipment; Fuel and lubricants; and transport equipment constituted 19.26, 12.32, and 8.24, percent of the total value of imports, respectively. Foods and beverages accounted for 9.77 percent of the total imports in July 2020. Read original article

Tanzania and Kenya have set December this year as the deadline by which the two would have removed most of the non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade between them NTBs – also called non-tariff measures (NTMs) – are trade barriers that restrict imports and/or exports of goods and/or services through mechanisms other than the simple imposition of tariffs. The countries that ratified the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Customs Union that came into force in 2005 agreed to “immediately remove all the-then existing non-tariff barriers to the importation into their respective territories of goods originating in the other Partner States”. They also agreed NOT to impose any new NTBS. However, more than 15 years after the Protocol came into force, trade barriers still plague intra-trade in the regional integration bloc of neighbouring countries that are hell-bent on an East African Federation, complete with a single federal government. For example, JTC formed by the Tanzania and Kenya governments as part and parcel of the JCC – and which is jointly led by Tanzania Minister for Industry and Trade, Mr Kitila Mkumbo, and his Kenyan counterpart, Ms Betty Mauna – identified 64 major challenges which are unfriendly to bilateral relations between Tanzania and Kenya alone. Some 60 of the challenges comprised tariff and NTBs to trade between the two countries. However, a month after the state visit of Kenya by Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan last June – and successfully dialoguing with her Kenyan counterpart, President Uhuru Kenyatta – 30...

For the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to see true prosperity, there is a need for stakeholders on the continent to devise digital solutions “designed by Africa and used by Africa”. This was the principal takeaway from the array of experts who shared thoughts at the maiden edition of the Africa Digital Conference, which had as its theme ‘The Digital Challenge: Africa’s Opportunity Under AfCFTA’. It was unanimously agreed that wholesale adoption of imported digital solutions, particularly those which take very little of the continent’s peculiar dynamics into consideration, would represent a lost opportunity for the continent to adequately take charge of its affairs and see some of its brightest persons miss out on designing home-grown solutions for Africa. According to the Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, indigenous solutions are crucial for the success of cross-border trade and payment systems, as well as the delivery of equitable social services to people across socio-economic boundaries. Beyond digitalisation, she noted, there is also the need to systematically create opportunities for homegrown start-ups in the space. In a speech read on her behalf, she said: “I believe that if governments can support a vibrant computer hardware manufacturer in one country to supply various schools across the continent, while reciprocating the support to other competitively-advantaged companies in sister countries in other areas of expertise, there will be an increase in the scale upon which these companies can viably establish or cement their operations. “These are truly the building blocks toward realising...

The Compact with Africa is a G20 initiative that promotes macroeconomic, business and financing reforms to attract more private investment in Africa, including in infrastructure. Participants of a G20 Compact with Africa meeting this week assessed Africa’s progress in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are meeting at a pivotal time in the relationship between Africa and the rest of the world,” said Italian prime minister Mario Draghi. The Compact with Africa is a G20 initiative that promotes macroeconomic, business and financing reforms to attract more private investment in Africa, including in infrastructure. The conference brought together heads of state of the 12 Compact members and institutional partners, including the African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It involved strategy discussions around attracting higher inflows of foreign direct investment to Africa and the urgent imperative to develop vaccine manufacture capability on the African continent. Securing the continent’s recovery from the impacts of Covid-19 is one of the Compact’s near-term objectives. Vaccine inequity was a recurring theme, and heads of state shared reforms that they had undertaken as part of the initiative. Closer international cooperation was urged to address climate change, debt levels and investment shortfalls. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa emphasized that “Africa will not be able to recover until Africans are vaccinated.” President Emmanuel Macron said France had committed to providing $10 million vaccine doses for Africa. African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said the African Development Bank had committed to investing $5 billion to support vaccine...

How a producers’ organization helped farmers successfully export avocado to Europe ACCRA, Ghana, August 26, 2021/APO Group/ -- “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 Mitei, a farmer from Kiptoben Village, Nakuru County, Kenya. Paul says he wanted to know more about how the avocado and tomato value chains worked, and the proper inputs that are critical to avocado cultivation and meeting market demands. Paul is married with 3 children and has a 5-acre farm where his family tends to avocado trees. He says he started to grow avocadoes because other farmers in his community were growing them, but at that time he had poor crop management skills which led to low fruit yields, no profit and a lot of frustration. . To improve his knowledge and capacity on the avocado value chain, he joined the Nakuru Small Holder Fruit Producers Association (NASFPA) with the hopes of higher sales of his farm produce. “Being a member of NASFPA, I am now well informed about better market access and 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. Paul currently has 104 avocado fruit trees out of which 15 were fully mature by last year. Out of the 15 matured trees he harvested 500 kgs last...

Kenyans are known globally to be tech-savvy due to their fast adoption of new innovations and the fact that the country has one of the highest mobile phone penetrations in Africa. Majority of Kenyans now say digital services have improved their diverse areas of their lives, according to new survey. A report on Kenya’s Digital Economy by a global advisory firm, Dalberg shows about 84 percent of Kenyans use digital services such as sending and receiving money on mobile money, social media, access to news, information, farming, government digital platforms and selling and buying online. It adds that increasing adoption of digital devices and services in the country is helping reduce the digital divide and improving standards of living. Some 74 percent respondents indicated that internet is important for meeting their day-to-day needs, with only 1.2 percent claiming it made their life worse. “Most Kenyans see a better quality of life ...and some see improved economic conditions as a result of using digital devices and services. Unsurprisingly, the strongest impact that people experience is a greater sense of connection (92 percent),” the report states. “Many users also believe that digital services support their individual needs. A sizable minority, 30 percent, have seen their income increase,” it says. The survey focused on 2,456 households across the country. Kenya’s digital economy has expanded over the years due to internet access and high mobile penetration at 130.3 percent, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya. Mobile subscriptions stands at 62 million, more than...

Readers discuss how the Belt and Road Initiative could help African nations better prepare for climate change and China’s commitment to socialism and communism We have been witnessing some serious climate catastrophes across the world. Unprecedented and massive floods affecting central and northern Europe were followed by record rainfall in Henan, China, and northern India. Climate change is affecting millions of lives across the world. The consensus in the scientific community is that climate change is anthropogenic – caused primarily by greenhouse gas emissions. The industrialised world is acting to mitigate greenhouse emissions, although with mixed results. At the same time, it is expected that economic and industrial development in the least developed countries in Asia or Africa could worsen the global climate crisis. Yet, the least developed countries are disproportionately affected by climate change. For example, the accelerating desertification and drought in the Sahel region boosted cyclone activity on the East African coast and even increased the frequency of locust infestations in the Horn of Africa, affecting the food security of millions of people. By increasing investment in infrastructure and financial assistance, China’s Belt and Road Initiative is expected to help African nations better prepare to cope with climate change. Belt and Road Initiative explained In a chapter in the book Climate Change, Hazards and Adaptation Options, Michael Addaney argues that the “infrastructural development” and “agricultural modernisation”, and the strengthening of “logistical connectivity” and “effective partnerships”, via the Belt and Road Initiative will boost Africa’s capacity to adapt to...

What you need to know: Kenya is set to benefit from more exports and cheap imports with the admission of DRC into the EAC. According to the CS, the national government has made deliberate efforts to cater for SMEs by undertaking various targeted initiatives. Sir, even as Kenya races to make it easy to start and run businesses in the country, it could be that the government is sabotaging itself with a sustained high cost of electricity, corruption and a high tax regime which only gets worse. How do you intend to get to your destination with these factors unresolved, and probably only getting worse? Japhter Muriuki, Germany The government has been increasing access to electricity and also reducing the cost of electricity through full implementation of the last mile connectivity programme, which on completion, is expected to affordably connect every household to the national power grid. It has also set up an industrial zone in Naivasha where cheap, green energy for industries is being made available for heavy industries. Under the Ease of Doing Business agenda, the government has been automating and digitising a number of critical government services to the public, in effect reducing costs and improving revenue collection hence reducing wastage of public resources. A majority of services are now on digital platforms. There are recent and ongoing initiatives on the tax front, such as simplified tax procedures through the i-Tax system. There is enhanced transparency by the Kenya revenue Authority (KRA) and the National Treasury in...