Author: Njenga Hakeenah

The East African region has a combined GDP of US$ 880 billion and a population of 437 million.

Despite this attractive combination, the economies of East Africa are still highly fragmented with low intra-regional trade and investment levels. To make matters worse, the trade and investment have been declining.

The region’s biggest economies of Kenya and Ethiopia have an annual bilateral trade worth less than US$ 100 million since they barely trade with each other.

While these two economise paint a rough picture of the trade imbalances in the region, trading within the East African Community (EAC) is higher with exports peaking in 2013 at US$ 3.5 billion. Again, unfortunately, by 2017 the exports volumes had declined with earnings reducing by 31 per cent to just US$ 2.4 billion.

The lack of trade integration poses a serious impediment to the future development of the region despite the fact that the …

With the multibillion flower export business in Kenya, national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) and Emirates could make the segment a possible battleground to control freighting the commodity.

Already, Emirates is ahead of the pack in Kenya having freighted 2,000 tonnes of cut flowers from the East African nation through its Emirates SkyCargo in January.

Kenya Airways is also propping up for the general air cargo market of which flowers make up for a sizeable account in Kenya. The national carrier is aggressively moving to consolidate air cargo transport after successfully launching the first direct flight from Nairobi to the US.

With the Expo 2020 Dubai beckoning, Emirates is off to a good start with cut flower transportation from Kenya to its more than 155 destinations globally.

Last year, Emirates SkyCargo transported over 46,000 tonnes of flowers across the world with over 24,000 tonnes, originating from Kenya.

Valentine’s Day flowers demand…

China has become the central manufacturing hub of many global business operations and any disruption in its output is expected to have repercussions elsewhere through regional and global value chains.

With the Asian country being an important cog in the wheels of production worldwide, the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan has affected many companies with China’s Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI), a critical production index, falling by about 22 points in February.

According to UNCTAD, this index is highly correlated with exports and such a decline implies a reduction in exports of about 2 per cent on an annualized basis.

Considerable impact on the economy and society

In other words, the drop observed in February spread over the year is equivalent to -2 per cent of the supply of intermediate goods, adds the UN’s trade body.

On February 23, 2020, China’s President Xi Jinping, in a televised address said, “It …

East African nations Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania have been on a green energy harnessing mission creating thousands of megawatts they may not consume by the year 2022.

These countries could find themselves in a conundrum where they have too much electricity which people cannot use. This possible scenario could be created by the likelihood of not enough people being able to purchase this power or the inability to use it due to different reasons.

The biggest challenge for this power being a burden to these governments could be because most of them lack the infrastructure to transmit this power to those who need it. In addition, countries that have been purchasing power from their neighbours are also moving to produce their own meaning they will be struck by a surplus they cannot utilise and in return suffer massive costs of having idle power.

Power capacity surplus

With the …

Germany was the first country to recognize Kenya after independence in 1963 creating deep diplomatic relations between the two countries. Since then, the two countries have a retained a warm and cordial tradition of close partnership and relations between them.

Kenya, the East African economic hub has maintained a diplomatic mission in Germany since 1964. The embassy was initially in Bonn, West Germany and later moved to Berlin after Germany’s unification.

Fourth largest source of tourists

There are several thousand Kenyans living permanently in Germany while a number of Germans enjoy Kenya’s hospitality with many of them living in the country especially along the coast.

This is the second visit by a German president after the first by President Heinrich Lauda of then West Germany in 1966. The other high profile visit was by German Chancellor Angela Merkel where she met former President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga …

West Africa’ economic growth will continue being sluggish this year as the region’s 15 economies continue witnessing tepid growth unless things change.

Despite this projection, Nigeria, which is by far the largest economy in the region, has been investing in sectors that are attracting investors from across the continent and beyond.

As the world moves into work and live city models, Nigeria has not been left behind and it can only get better for Africa’s most populous nation. And with 196 million people living in the country going by 2018 estimates, accommodating these numbers means that the country has to be innovative in how it provides housing as well as create jobs.

According to the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF), housing remains a perennial problem in Nigeria. With projections that the country’s population will surge to 263 million by 2038, providing housing for Nigerians needs an emergency …

Changing weather patterns not only affect food production and ecosystems that humans depend on but they also create challenges which threaten the very existence of humanity.

Diseases are some of the risks that come with unpredictable weather cycles making it hard to predict or curtail outbreaks.

With increased disease outbreaks, there is strain on available resources which include human, technical and financial. In addition, time is usually limited if it becomes an issue of race against an epidemic.

Is Africa ready for the risks associated with climate change?

A look at the response in most countries in Africa shows that while governments may do the best they can to contain outbreaks, the changing climate phenomenon may make it harder since pathogens that cause the diseases may be mutating and becoming resistant to available drugs.

This means that without the capacity to keep researching and producing new and stronger drugs, the …

The UK left the European Union (EU) in January after a long and tedious process which saw Prime Minister Theresa May quit as the Conservative leader on June 7, 2019.

Following the divorce, the EU and the UK will determine their future trade relations during the transition period which goes on until the end of this year.

With this reorganisation, developing countries could see their exports to the UK increase. The EU could also offer a slightly bigger market for goods coming from these economies. However, this is dependent on whether the UK increases tariffs for third world countries.

Trading with Britain under preferential terms

With this, it is time for Africa as Brexit could create new opportunities for the continent which just became one the largest free trade area in the world with the AfCFTA which will be operational starting in June 2020.

The UNCTAD notes that a no-deal …

Since the turn of the century, Africa’s GDP has grown by 4.6 per cent annually, on average.

Domestic demand has been Africa’s key driver of the growth performance accounting for 69 per cent of annual growth between 2000 and 2018, according to the African Union (AU).

The AU notes that this is reflected in the demand for processed food which is growing 1.5 times faster than the global average. On the other hand, the demand for many other products such as vehicles, manufactured metals and industrial machinery, is expanding faster than the global average.

This makes it a good opportunity for local firms to grow in size and productivity.

Start-ups in Africa

On the tech front, start-ups in Africa have also increasingly emerged with the top three activities relating to information technology and communications (ICT) and internet services; digital applications and software; and the creation of audio-visual content and broadcasting.…

The East African region is counting the cost with more than 35 million people more are at risk due to the locust invasion…