A group of 25 South African business people was in high spirits ahead of their departure to Kampala, Uganda, to explore trade and investment opportunities in the agro-processing, capital equipment, energy and furniture sectors in the East African country.

This is according to the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) who said in a statement on Friday that the delegation will participate in the Outward Trade and Investment Mission to Kampala from 19-24 May.

According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Rob Davies, the main objective of the mission is to increase bilateral trade and investment between South Africa and Uganda.

“The mission will also introduce South African exporters to the Ugandan market with the aim of assisting them to gain entry into this market, identify trade and investment opportunities, and generate export sales. It will also contribute positively in strengthening bilateral economic relations between South Africa,” said …

Blockchain Association of Africa (BAA), a South Africa based non-profit pan-African organisation, announced its strategic partnership with Afriplains Digital, Tanzania(AFD) and  Blockchain Worx, Singapore (BCW) to leverage synergies and further its efforts to equip the community and stakeholders in Africa with hands-on Blockchain education, acumen and tools to shape Africa’s future.

The partnership will focus on the common vision of driving technology evangelization, community outreach, capacity building and local talent building.

This will be targeted towards driving adoption, helping the implementation of this cutting-edge technology and bringing sustainable, unparalleled business-value to Africa. As a part of the alliance, the three parties will kick-off their collaboration by deploying Blockchain Worx’s Blockchain Innovation Centre across local chapters in South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda & Tanzania.

The Blockchain Innovation Centre is a digital centre of excellence, designed to explore possibilities, forge alliances and accelerate innovation within institutions and communities.…

NIC Bank Kenya has signed a Loan Portfolio Guarantee agreement amounting to Ksh 515,900,000  (USD5.1 million) with the African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

The partnership aims to unlock financing intended to facilitate the promotion, growth and development of SMEs in Kenya.

This comes in the wake of a continued credit crunch in the market, occasioned by the interest rate cap law in the country.

Since the law came into place in 2016, banks have been lending more to the government, shunning the private sector and individuals whom they term ‘high risk borrowers’.

READ:Why high risk borrowers , SMEs in Kenya could get easy loans

Speaking during the partnership launch, AGF Group Deputy CEO Jules Ngankam noted that the objective is to provide partial credit guarantees and capacity development to NIC Bank to stimulate financing of SMEs, thereby unlocking their potential to deliver exclusive growth in …

The Kenyan government has renewed its efforts to fight counterfeit goods and infringement of intellectual property, as counterfeiters continue to pose a threat to local manufacturers and traders.

In a new move, the country’s anti-counterfeit laws have been amended, putting in place new measures that will help fight the vice which takes up to USD300 million of local manufacturers’ market share annually, with the government loses USD80 million as potential tax revenue.

READ:Shocking counterfeit headaches crippling Kenya’s manufacturing sector

The State is also targeting proceeds of counterfeit trade mainly property, with top businessmen, politicians and high-net individuals being among the biggest perpetrators who could cross swords with the authority.

The Anti-Counterfeit Act, 2008 (amended) now extends the counterfeiting scope to include goods counterfeited outside Kenya, allowing for their impoundment.

This means that the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA), formerly the Anti-Counterfeit Agency, now has the power to impound items counterfeited outside …

Kenya and the European Union (EU) have renewed their commitment to a stronger relationship that will enhance trade, support businesses and growth of their economies.

This came after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday hosted a business dialogue meeting with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the delegation of the European Union in Kenya and the European Business Council (EBC) at State House Nairobi.

On the side-lines of this meeting, President Kenyatta also met with ambassadors from the European Union countries to discuss trade related matters.

Besides fostering the relationship between the private sector in Kenya and their counterparts from the EU operating in Kenya, the meeting aimed at seeking investment commitments from the private sector in Big Four agenda and the Blue Economy sector, forging a formal dialogue engagement between KEPSA, EBC and the government of Kenya.

The business dialogue meeting between KEPSA and EBC was conducted in two sessions. …

Welcome to Jack’s world. Jack is a photographer based in Dar-es-Salaam who recently set up a sole proprietorship.

His dream is to grow into a visual interior design firm that furnishes affluent homes, office spaces, and restaurants with compelling imagery for their otherwise boring walls.

Every one of Jack’s hours is valuable to achieving his ambition.

Jack is not alone. East Africa is burgeoning with small businesses that are formalizing. With this formalization – setting up a company, relentless selling, and paying taxes – comes a heavy investment in time and a meticulous focus on prioritizing what matters most on any given day.

A popular misconception is that it’s easier today for small businesses to grow due to the plethora of digital marketing tools available.

From automatic logo generators and photo editors to website builders and social media schedulers, business owners are able to get things done faster. But this …

Kenya has unveiled yet another beautifully crafted policy document to guide adoption of technology in the country.  The new digital economy blueprint was unveiled to investors and guests attending the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. The blueprint themed “powering Kenya’s transformation” moves to harness more uses of ICT to boost Kenya’s economy.

The blueprint was unveiled in the presence of over 4,000 participants among them government bureaucrats, policymakers, innovators and technology investors who are meeting to discuss how ICT resources can be harnessed to boost African economies.

Through the blueprint, the government aims at enhancing the contribution of ICTs to the economy through digital governance solutions, digitizing business processes, facilitating infrastructure delivery, innovation driven entrepreneurship and promotion of digital skills and values.

“We are the new frontier for trade and investment with estimates indicating that by 2025, business opportunities in Africa will be about US$ 5.6 trillion. More importantly, …

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has taken enforcement action against individuals in Kenya who it says has been culpable for unethical undertakings in fixed income securities in the last fear years. The move is seen as CMA’s effort to instill proffesionalism in the securities trading in the country mainly through a scheme known as ‘Front Running’.

CMA has taken enforcement action against Mr. Rodrick Muhoro, a bond trader, following conclusion of investigations with respect to allegation of irregular trading of Government Securities in 2016 and 2017.

Consequently,  CMA has imposed a financial penalty of Kshs 208 Million being twice the amount of benefit Mr Muhoro received from irregular trading and banned him from conducting bonds trading for a period of 10 years.

“According to the investigations, Mr. Muhoro conspired with brokers to defraud investors in bond transactions undertaken between January 2016 and June 2017 through front running,”  a press stament …

Social enterprise firm Sistema.bio, the largest biogas company in Africa, has announced plans to impact 100,000 farmers in Kenya with biodigester technology over the next three years following a successful close of a round of fund raising.

The closure of Serie A Investment round worth KShs 1.2 billion is expected to drive its growth in Kenya. The round was lead by international investors ENGIE RDE, EU Electrifi Fund, AlphaMunid, Triodos-Hivos Fund, Dila Capital, EcoEnterprises and other impact and commercial investors. Sistema.bio Co-Founder and CEO, Alex Eaton noted that Kenya’s focus on food security within the Big Four Agenda creates great opportunities for agricultural investments and clean energy.

“Sistema.bio is assembling the bioidigester technology locally, creating employment opportunities for hundreds of Kenyans, while educating farmers on the use of organic fertilizers in their farms, directly supporting the SDGs and the Big Four Agenda,” said Alex.

With the concerns of rising fuel …

Invest In Africa (IIA), a Not-for-Profit SME focused entity, has rebranded its online platform—African Partner Pool (APP)—in a renewed effort to enhance its support for small players grow their businesses.

The platform will now be known as ‘Biashara.Now’, a boost for SMEs seeking to grow their businesses in Kenya.

This comes as the entity marks two years of its online platform which links Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with procurement opportunities available in the private sector across value chains, promoting local content and business sustainability.

READ:Invest in Africa push for increased business on the APP platform

In just two years, the organization has been able to register 2,250 MSMEs on its platform.

It has also recruited over 20 partners who have provided 67 tenders worth Ksh270 million (USD2.9 million) which have been won by MSMEs so far.

Additionally, over 200 MSMEs have been trained and over Ksh300 million …