Small and Medium Enterprises in the region recognize the potential of working with public-private partnerships, and 63 percent of them think private sector initiatives and partnerships will benefit businesses and the markets in which they operate.

This has been revealed in a study conducted by Mastercard dubbed MEA SME Confidence Index.

The study also reveals that one in three SMEs or 32 percent think that collaborating with governments and businesses outside their markets could impact their growth. In Southern Africa this was especially pronounced, with over half at 56 percent agreeing.

The research also highlights the important role of government support in helping small and medium enterprises across the region to recover, position for growth, and contribute to economic prosperity.

As such, government support and implementation of effective policies has been highlighted as important by 88 percent of the region’s SMEs, 50 percent of which rated this point as a …

Business people in the East African Community are now set to benefit through prompt resolution and intervention of issues disrupting trade, following the launch of the EAC-EABC Technical Working group (TWG).

Based in Arusha Tanzania, the Technical Working Group launched by the East African Community (EAC) and East African Business Council (EABC) – the umbrella body bringing together private sector associations in East Africa- is tasked with receiving and synthesizing issues received from the private sector at various levels and advise on appropriate solutions.

A statement by the EAC-EABC has revealed that the team will be chaired by EAC Director General for Customs and Trade, Kenneth Bagamuhunda and co-chaired by EABC CEO John Bosco Kalisa. It will also entail members from the national apex private sector associations in the EAC region.

The team will be responsible for following up on challenges disrupting intra-EAC trade raised by businesses and support their …

EAC Partner States have begun the 2021/2022 financial year with a focus on economic recovery through industrialization and inclusive growth.

This comes at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has had adverse effects on economies across the region and worldwide.

Data by Deloitte indicates that the outbreak led to disruption in the various sectors, most notably the financial industry and the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Additional data by UNECA adds that the effect of the pandemic on growth in Eastern Africa has been heterogeneous. The organization added that the impact has been more severe for countries dependent on tourism.

Kenya’s Principal Secretary for EAC, Dr. Kevit Desai, said that the region was putting in place strategies to ensure economic recovery in all Partner States from the destructive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a region, we have witnessed the devastation created within the economies of the Partner States, including the …

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a new deal that will help businesses in the private sector forge their way to recovery. 

CMA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) to support market deepening and leveraging capital market products to catalyze growth in the sector.

The partners say the move is line with the Big 4 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.

Through the MoU, CMA and KEPSA say they will be seeking avenues for private and public sector finance and investment necessary to support Kenya’s economic growth and complement development funding gaps.

The two institutions will also seek to collaborate in the development of policy and regulatory interventions to create a conducive business environment that will support a robust, resilient, and inclusive financial sector through the growth of the capital markets.

The CMA Chief Executive, Wyckliffe Shamiah said the partnership is expected …

Covid-19’s impact on transportation in East Africa has been the greatest impediment to trade in the entire region. Due to the multiple medical tests that drivers are forced to undertake, the wait period has been a critical hinderance on goods being delivered on time. This has drastically changed much of the supply of goods and services from the two key ports of the region, namely the Mombasa Port in Kenya and the Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania.  

With the global pandemic continuing its tirade, no corner in the world is spared.  Trade in Eastern Africa has severely been affected by internal and regional barriers inhibiting competitiveness of regional goods and services.  

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, for example, the port of Mombasa, the busiest in East Africa, handled approximately 27 million tonnes of cargo and processing more than one million containers. Following the pandemic, however, the …

For the last 8 years, member states that make up the East African Community have not met their annual commitments to the regional body fully.  The closest they came to fully meet these commitments was in the financial year 2011/12, and were at their lowest at 70% for FY2019/20.

This has led to the EAC to push for its organs to reduce their budgets to adjust to this reality which has included reducing the number of activities and missions abroad. These efforts to reduce the expenses by the community were acknowledged last month by the African Development Bank, which ranked the EAC as the most performing regional community in Africa.

For example, documents availed to The Exchange by sources within the community show that the travel expenses which were at USD 17.7 million during FY2013/14 were reduced to USD 12.05 million during FY2017/18.

However, according to sources within the community, …