Regional business lobby TradeMark Africa has picked new board of directors and appointed former World Trade Organisation director Pascal Lamy as special advisor. The 11 member board will be chaired by Tanzania’s Ali Mufuruki. Others members are Kenya’s Patricia Ithau, Earl Gast and Matt Reitz of USA, Rwandese Rosette Chantal Rugamba, Jaqueline Lutaya of Uganda, Patrick Obath and Anthony Masozera from Burundi. The team was picked from more than 500 applicants from East Africa. TMA previously operated with a statutory board provided mostly by service organisations. The new team incorporates members from the EAC region and is expected to give unbiased feedback on performance of TMA to management. Source: The Star

African countries have been urged to increase trade among themselves in order to ensure the continent grows into a notable economy, Nigerian High Commissioner to Kenya Akin Oyateru has said. The diplomat said there is much potential on the continent and the 10 per cent target that has been achieved so far, can be taken further if various States forge a common trade bond. “For Africa to survive, it needs to have more intra-trade and this should be encouraged between nations as Europe and Asia can comfortably survive through their trade,” he said. Mr Oyateru said Europe is doing 60 per cent while Asia is at 50 per cent of trade with themselves. This, he said, Africa needs to adopt. He said improved intra-trade would enable farmers to get more value for their products once they are exported within the continent. Mr Oyateru spoke during a courtesy call on Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka last week where he urged presidents to reach for a common business pact. Source: Daily Nation

NAIROBI, Kenya - In November participants from the East African Community (EAC) public and private sector are to meet in Nairobi to brainstorm infrastruture development writes JOSEPH BURITE. The Project East Africa Summit is being hosted by the Kenya Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. Organisers say several major investment opportunities and infrastructure projects in the East African region will be highlighted at summit. It is being touted as a leading platform for local and international investors to showcase opportunities available in the region and will take place on November 3 and 4, at the InterContinental Hotel, Nairobi. ‘Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda have joined forces to present their major projects and promote infrastructural development at the event,’ reads a statement in part. According to the statement, the Summit brings together six major governments from the East Africa region together with all the major private sector industry leaders to provide detailed insight into commercial opportunities available and is the best possible platform to meet potential business partners. The East Africa Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (EACCIA) is co-hosting the talks. The event’s task force set up by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure will ensure that all the government’s major projects are well-represented with the exact purpose of meeting companies and investors who are interested in all the region has to offer. EACCIA is an organization which was established and owned by the three national chambers, namely, the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Uganda...

What’s a trillion dollars? It’s a thousand billion and in writing, it is one, followed by 12 zeros; by rough estimates, a trillion dollars can fill five large master bedrooms, stacked in $100 bills of $10,000 bundles; that’s the amount lost annually to fraud and corruption globally. A huge percentage of those trillion dollars are lost in the long and technically jargonized chain of procurement and supply by public and private entities as money exchanges hands between procurement managers and tender applicants in bribes and kickbacks for huge contracts. The trillion dollar anecdote is a favourite of André Coetzee, Managing Director of Chartered Institute for Procurement and Supply (CIPS), Southern Africa region and he used it to start his 46-slide presentation at the recent East African procurement forum. CIPS is the world’s largest procurement and supply institute with a membership of over 65,000 entities that operate in over 150 countries; its courses are also accredited in over 40 universities. Rwanda has about 50 CIPS members; Kenya and Uganda have 2,055 and 1,015 members, respectively while Tanzania has 205 CIPS members and only two for Burundi. On Wednesday in Nairobi, Coetzee used the trillion dollar anecdote again, not in a long PPT presentation but at a brief award ceremony where he crowned Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) with the prestigious CIPS Corporate Certification for excellent procurement standards. The CIPS corporate certification is an internationally acclaimed recognition for organisations that have a proven and excellent procurement system and TMA, which has only...

TradeEMark East Africa (TMA) has won the world's most prestigious corporate procurement certification from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), making it the first organisation in the region to clinch the award. Speaking at a brief awarding ceremony, the TMA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Frank Matsaert, said the institution was proud to win the award as it speaks loudly of their dedication to maintain the highest standards in procurement amidst some challenges. "We at TMA are very proud to receive the certification. It acknowledges our efforts to maintain the standards and principles of transparency and good governance in procurement," he said at the function also attended by the Vice Chairman of TMA's Board of Directors, Mr Tim Lamont and CIPS Managing Director, Mr Andre Coetzee. Mr Matsaert said the award served as another proof that TMA was adhering to the highest standards in procurement and was maintaining the principles of probity, transparency, consistence and fairness as a benchmark of good management. "We are trying to be change makers. We help to enhance growth and prosperity to our partners. That is what we do and we're very passionate about that," he said. TMA had always strived to achieve top excellence in procurement and make both efficient and effective to provide the real value for money. "This shows the region and to our stakeholders and partners that that we are serious in doing the right thing and we do it well." The CIPS Managing Director, Mr Andre Coetzee, said although...

(MENAFN Press) TradeMark Africa (TMA) today announced the appointment a new Board of Directors. This follows successful completion of a rigorous appointment process of highly-experienced East African nationals. Chaired by Tanzanian entrepreneur Ali Mufuruki, the new Board comprises leading business and civil society professionals in East Africa. Former World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy joins the Board as Special Advisor. In 2013, TMA embarked on a process of developing its governance arrangements. TMA's investors assume a shareholder role with a day to day oversight of the organisation undertaken by the independent Board. The appointment of the Board members is a strong endorsement of TMA as an inclusive and results driven organisation whose key mandate is to increase prosperity in East Africa. TMA funding has grown to a US700m budget since its inception in 2010 with presence in all EAC Partner States and South Sudan. "I am proud to welcome such an experienced pool of industry professionals to the board of TradeMark Africa," said Ali Mufuruki, Board Chairman of TMA. "We conducted an exhaustive search for individuals who have proven track records in their respective professions, and are delighted to have identified such outstanding individuals. These board members who comprise professionals from both government, donor institutions and the private sector, bring extensive international and regional expertise in the development sector, executive management and the donor community to TMA." TMA Chief Executive Officer Frank Matsaert, concurred, "We are delighted to welcome the new board members. The board's composition is a...

JOHANNESBURG/DAKAR — A fresh US trade pact could provide relief to African economies buffeted by the commodities slump, but a failure to reform during the boom years has left many countries unable to profit from tariff-free access to the world’s largest market. In an effort to boost trade under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), renewed by Congress for a decade in June, representatives from 39 African countries will hold talks with US officials in oil-rich Gabon this week. Under the deal, first signed in 2000, African exports to the US rose to $26.8bn by 2013, but more than four-fifths of that was oil. With US demand for petroleum imports falling due to its shale revolution and commodities prices across the board hit by China’s slowdown, the blow to African economies has highlighted their failure to industrialise. The World Bank forecasts gross domestic product (GDP) growth in sub-Saharan Africa will slow this year to 4.2%, down from an average of 6.4% during 2002 to 2008. Despite a decade of rapid growth, sub-Saharan Africa’s manufacturing sector remained weak. While exports from the region more than quadrupled to $457bn in the decade to 2011, manufactured goods made up just $58bn of that. US officials say that, even with tariff-free access, a range of problems is holding back African exports, from poor transport links to costly electricity, lack of bank credit, corruption and labyrinthine bureaucracy. "When you look at a container of coffee or textiles coming out of Africa, it is substantially...

NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- East African countries have resolved to advance regional tourism cooperation to help unlock potential in the region. UN World Tourism Organisation (UN WTO) said in a statement received on Wednesday following the conclusion of the three-day meeting in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa that ministers and representatives from East Africa and the Vanilla Islands also outlined the East African tourism agenda. "The Agenda will include agreements on regional priorities and concrete actions for cooperation," said the statement. In an effort to unlock the tourism potential of East Africa, the first UNWTO East Africa Tourism Development Forum gathered regional tourism leaders and stakeholders to identify opportunities to maximize sustainable tourism development through regional collaboration. Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto, who officially opened the conference last Friday, said tourism is a critical component of the East African economy and an important part of the region’s common destiny. "Our biggest challenge is to work together to improve every aspect of the experience we offer to our visitors, from their arrival at the airport, their movement within and across our countries, the accommodation and facilities that we offer, and the affordability across all income brackets," he said. UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said the UN tourism agency maintains great confidence in the East African Community’s ability to position itself as a leading tourism destination, by delivering one compelling, highly competitive offering. "I wish to welcome the recent introduction of the East Africa Tourist Visa, which allows travel between Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda,...

Trade between East Africa and China is expected to boom over the next five years despite a slowdown in the world's second largest economy, IHS said on Wednesday. Trade between East Africa and China is expected to increase by 91% by 2020, according Krispen Atkinson, principal analyst at IHS Maritime & Trade. "It's all around manufactured goods. East Africa is becoming a new hub for the Chinese," he said. IHS's projections came as the Chinese market experienced extreme market volatility since a huge debt-fuelled rally, which saw the market rise 150% in 12 months, collapse in mid-June. The Chinese leadership has made public its commitment to develop infrastructure and to promote regional integration in East Africa, according to Atkinson. The highest growth areas are expected to incorporate Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. IHS risk analyst, Natznet Tesfay, foresees that China's relationship with East Africa will change in the coming years. According to Tesfay the current focus is on importing raw materials and exporting manufactured goods. But, Tesfay added, Chinese investments in regional interconnectivity will enable it to take advantage of comparatively lower operational costs. Another spin-off will include the increased capacity of onshore manufacturing activity in the region, Tesfay said. Trade from China and Southeast Asia to North America and Europe is also expected to boom in the next five years, according to the analysis. Atkinson said, however, that the increases would not be the double-digit rises seen before the 2008 global economic crisis. "However, an increase of over 30%...

Nairobi - Power lines connecting the east African states of Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia are expected to be completed within the next three years, helping improve supplies and power trading, a senior Kenyan official said on Thursday. Power shortages are common across Africa and businesses often complain that poor or erratic supplies deter more investors and push up prices of local products, as many firms rely on costly generators. Linking up national grids would provide a bigger pool of resources and mean one state can tap idle supplies in another. A high voltage line between Ethiopia and Kenya will be ready in 2017, a Kenya-Uganda link will be complete by the end of 2016, and a Kenya-Tanzania connection will be working in 2018, said Joseph Njoroge, principal secretary at Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Ministry. The Kenya-Ethiopia link will be a 500 kilovolt (kV) line, while the lines to Uganda and Tanzania will be 400 kV. The line to Uganda would then connect Rwanda and Burundi. All the states, except for Ethiopia, are part of the East African Community trade bloc. “In another two to three years, we should be having interconnections of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania,” Njoroge told a regional power conference. “The regional power interconnection project is a very critical solution,” he said. Kenya, which relies heavily on hydro power, geothermal and other renewables, aims to expand installed capacity to 6 700 mega watts (MW) by 2017, from about 2 500 MW currently, and cut...