Regulatory authorities in different countries across Africa are pushing for uniform standards for commodities produced on the continent. The move to harmonize standards is part of efforts to increase intra-Africa trade and reduce the tendencies of international markets to reject African products due to standard disparities. This was revealed at a capacity building and training workshop for technical committees on African Standards Harmonisation Model (ASHAM) procedures, which ended on Wednesday, at Golden Tulip Canaan Hotel in Kampala. The three-day event was facilitated by the Africa Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS). The event is under the theme Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) Implementation-One Test One Certificate Accepted Everywhere. UNBS executive director, David Livingstone Ebiru said the standards experts, who are responsible for writing the standards across sectors of their respective economies, will review the standards of various commodities for trade across the continent. Ebiru said harmonized standards for products are capable of increasing trade among African countries to 40% from the current 16%. He said an increase in intra-Africa trade will improve the quality of African products, reduce imports to the continent and ensure that trading with other parts of the world is done on Africa’s terms. The experts are representing the different regional economic blocks such as the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). “Currently, standards are harmonized in the regional economic blocks. But Africa does...

The launch of trade capacity-building activities in Tanzania under the WTO Chairs Programme was marked at an event on 31 March at the Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa, an institution within the Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute. Speaking at the event, Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang said: “We are confident that the appointed team at the Trade Policy Training Centre will be able to deliver with great dedication and enthusiasm and make a meaningful impact in advancing the goals of the Chairs Programme.” The Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute (ESAMI) is a pan-African management development institute owned by ten member governments. The Chair in Tanzania will seek to help the East African Community overcome impediments to trade growth and development. This year's activities at the Training Centre will focus on issues of relevance to least-developed countries in Africa, including utilization of trade preference and their impact on the development of regional value chains; e-commerce; and trade remedies. The team is led by Professor Caiphas Chekwoti and Professor Tsotetsi Makong, who are experienced in training trade policymakers in both English- and French-speaking Africa. Tanzania's Deputy Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade, Mr Exaud Silaoneka Kigahe, noted that the Chairs Programme will facilitate access to research necessary to inform trade-related decision-making in Tanzania. “As a continent, we appreciate the value of using evidence-based research in synthesising strategies and policies to mitigate the unique challenges that our region and countries face”, he said. “We hope that, through the research activities undertaken by...

Nairobi, Kenya, 29 March 2023 (ECA) - African countries should promote the free movement of people across their borders to boost intra-African trade, says the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Director of Regional Integration and Trade Division, Stephen Karingi, calling for the speedy ratification of the Protocol on free movement of people. The African Union, recognizing the importance of human resource skills to the continent's development, adopted the Free  Movement of Persons Protocol in 2018, which has been signed by 33 Member States. However, only four countries have ratified the Protocol to date. "The state of ratification is disheartening, to say the least, given that the Protocol is aimed at facilitating regional integration in general, and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in particular," Mr. Karingi said in Nairobi, Kenya during a two-day Experts' Group Meeting to review a Policy Report on the theme, Free Movement of Persons for Trade: Towards an Accelerated Ratification of the AU Free Movement of Persons Protocol in Support of the implementation of the AfCFTA. The policy report, an outcome of a joint study by the African Union Commission (AUC) and ECA shows the benefits of free movement of persons in relation to the implementation of the AfCFTA and identifies factors behind the slow ratification of the Protocol. The slow ratification of the Protocol has been attributed to a lack of knowledge and appreciation of the benefits of free movement of persons, lack of awareness of the Protocol, lack of political will,...

The private sector’s role is vital to fully unlock benefits of the AfCFTA as it offers huge opportunities for the private sector, financial experts emphasize. On March 20th, the Pan Africa Chamber of Commerce and Industries /PACCI/ hosted a business roundtable on AfCFTA benefits for business. Several representatives from business across Africa and high level officials from regional and international organizations participated on the meeting which aimed to create awareness on the implementation and acceleration of the Africa continental free trade agreement and its benefits. “SMEs accounts for millions of companies operating in Africa therefore building a structure that supports their growth in to inter-Africa trade is crucial while accelerating the implementation of the AfCFTA,” Kebour Ghenna, Executive Director of the chamber stated whilst indicating that over the 90 percent of PACCI members were SMEs. As experts indicate, from the African private sector, which constitutes 90 percent of small and medium enterprises, challenges are faced in conducting cross-border trade due to non-tariff barriers such as complex customs procedures, lack of access to finance, high costs of transportation and logistics, and lack of access to information, among others inadequate infrastructure connectivity, rudimentary productive capacity, and risky or expensive payment systems as some of the barriers to trade. (Photo: Anteneh Aklilu) “We must push our governments and policy makers to accelerate the practical impacts of the agreement which has been rather minimal. We need to do more to put in place facilitation and regulation for export and trading,” said the executive director....

Academic institutions and private sector companies in the East African Community (EAC) have been urged to develop strong partnerships to produce graduates with skills that can enable them to compete for employment opportunities in the seven member states region. Speaking recently at the 12th Academia-Public-Private Partnership Forum (APPPF) and Exhibition held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Tanzania’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Adolf Faustine Mkenda, noted that education institutions and the private sector in the economic block of EAC should work together if human capital skills are to be developed: “Education institutions and the private sector should work together to produce market-driven programmes that are responsive to the dynamic needs of the labour market and train graduates that are relevant for the socio-economic development of our region,” the minister said. He added that well-trained human capital is crucial to the economic development of the region. Speaking at the same event, Dr. Irene Isaka, the Director for Social Sectors at the East African Community (EAC) who represented the EAC Secretary General Dr. Peter Mathuki, urged academic institutions to work with the private sector to develop curricula that are in line with the requirements of the labour market in the region and the rest of the world at large. “I would like to encourage you to continue to work together to constantly review and adapt your curriculum to remain in line with the current development agenda of the region and requirements of the labour market,” Dr. Isaka said. On behalf...

In Summary On Thursday, the committee will tour the Lake Victoria Basin Commission and Isebania border on an oversight mission. Discussions included use of smart gate and advanced scanning machines to address heavy traffic witnessed at Busia and Malaba Members of the National Assembly’s Regional Integration Committee have toured Busia and Malaba borders to foster regional cooperation between East African Community member states. Led by Fafi MP Farah Salah Yakub, the committee conducted an inspection of the two border points to establish opportunities, gains and challenges faced at the posts. The committee engaged with officials from Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the administration of both county and national governments on approaches that will foster trade in the EAC. “Regional cooperation is paramount for the development of the East African Community,” Yakub said. The team sought discussed measures that can be embraced to widen the scope of trade. Discussions included the use of smart gates and advanced scanning machines to address heavy traffic witnessed at Busia and Malaba One Stop Border Points. The committee was later led by Busia county commissioner Kipchumba Ruto to inspect 70 acres of land where Sh2 billion modern market will be constructed by KRA and TMEA to expand business operations. The committee also inspected the Malaba trailer park. The committee was informed that Malaba generates Sh5 billion per year. On Thursday, the committee will tour the Lake Victoria Basin Commission and Isebania border on an oversight mission. Present during the tour were Christopher...

Women entrepreneurs in East Africa have set up an information web and mobile-based platform to help them access global markets. The platform that is to be hosted by the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Ltd (UWEAL), was funded by Global Affairs Canada, through Trademark East Africa. According to a recent UWEAL statement, the information platform should provide women with greater access to markets and information on other trade support services. It should facilitate access to up-to-date and real-time information for women traders. “This will contribute towards the greater inclusion of women in trade, as one of the pathways to increased business competitiveness and increased trade in the East African Community (EAC),” reads part of the statement. “By adopting mobile-based technologies that are basic, simple and easy to use, the platform will be usable even in areas of high illiteracy levels - with the basic requirement being ability to use a mobile phone,” says UWEAL Read original article

One of the narratives surrounding intra-African trade has been that neighbouring countries barely trade with one another. Yet commerce between Sub-Saharan African countries predates the colonial period, when traders, often belonging to the same ethnic or family group, crossed what are now borders to exchange goods and services. This legacy persists, even though for reasons that vary from trade barriers and regulatory compliance costs to infrastructure and behavioural constraints, most trade between neighbouring African countries is conducted by vulnerable, small, unregistered traders who choose this physically demanding work largely because they lack alternatives. According to the African Development Bank, this informal cross-border trade provides income for about 43 percent of Africa’s population. To discuss intra-African trade, one must consider its informality, the small size of the traders and the important role of women. Take the example of Mozambique and Malawi. An observation of bilateral trade data for the period of 2017-2020 shows that there was little or no trade between the two neighbours for agriculture produce such as sweet potatoes, cassava, groundnuts, cotton seed, tropical fruits and beans. A bus carrying cross-border traders at Mwanza border between Malawi and Mozambique But during the visits to border posts and markets across the Nacala and Beira corridors after the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw a considerable flow of such agricultural goods. This suggests that either officials on the two main trade routes linking the countries were not recording the transactions or that products cross the border in such small parcels that they need...

Wednesday, March 29, 2023: The Council of Ministers of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have adopted legal instruments to implement the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) once it enters into force. In its 5th meeting conducted virtually today, the Ministers adopted the instruments relating to trade and customs, namely the tripartite agreement on movement of businesspersons, annexes on elimination of import duties, trade remedies, rules of origin, dispute settlement mechanism and the TFTA protocol on competition policy. Further the Council adopted the guidelines, manuals and working procedures developed on rules of origin and technical barriers to trade, which comprise of sanitary and phytosanitary matters and non-tariff barriers. The other set of instruments adopted by the Council relates to road transport. They include Vehicle Load Management Agreement, Multilateral Cross Border Road Transport Agreement, Vehicle Load Management Model Law, Cross Border Road Transport Model Law,  Road Traffic Model Law, Road Traffic and Transport Transgression Model Law,  and Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Road Model Law. In adopting the road transport instruments, the Council applied the principle of variable geometry which allow Member States that are not ready to apply them, to do so when ready. This will provide room for discussions to continue at bilateral level while at the same time allowing those countries that are ready, to proceed with their implementation. With the adoption of these trade and transport facilitation instruments, focus now is on the ratification of...

Prosper Africa, a US Government initiative aimed at increasing two-way trade and investment between the US and African countries, has announced its sponsorship of the Africa Fintech Summit in 2023. The summit will be held in Washington DC on April 12, 2023, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The move comes after President Joe Biden launched the White House’s Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA) initiative, recognizing the growth potential of Africa’s technology sector. US Govt Seeks to advance fintech growth in Africa During the summit, Prosper Africa will join other US government agencies to engage with tech innovators, founders, and ecosystem players to showcase the full suite of US government services and resources to advance fintech growth and US-Africa investment. Prosper Africa will be officially launching the Tech for Trade Alliance at a special session during the summit. The alliance, which is made up of major US companies, aims to accelerate e-commerce and digital trade in Africa and address legal, regulatory, and logistical bottlenecks across the continent. Since launching Prosper Africa in June 2019, the US government has helped close 1100 deals across 49 countries for a total estimated value of $65 billion in two-way trade and investment. The Africa Fintech Summit has become the largest bi-annual financial technology gathering on the African continent since its first summit in 2018. The 9th edition of the summit will focus on US-Africa tech connections, fintech regulatory best practices, diaspora banking and remittance, African fintechs expanding globally, cross-border payment movements, use cases for...