Browsing: East African Business Council (EABC)

• Standard Bank has developed the Africa Trade Barometer, a tool that blends qualitative and quantitative data across African markets.
• The Africa Trade Barometer is instrumental in solving access to information, a significant non-tariff barrier in Africa.
•  It provides a near real-time view of trade openness, access to finance, and macroeconomic stability data among others.

Standard Bank, the biggest lender by assets across Africa, has thrown its weight behind the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) saying it is a key opportunity to alleviate poverty, drive economic activity and achieve prosperity.

By eliminating trade barriers, AfCFTA aims to lift about 30 million Africans out of poverty by increasing incomes across the continent by seven percent by 2035. Once implemented, AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade area ever rolled out.

Standard Bank wants to power AfCFTA take-off

Recent global supply chain woes suffered in Africa illustrate the urgent need of …

• Price point remains a key magnet for fakes across East Africa. Counterfeit products are often cheaper than their genuine counterparts, making them easy picks for people shopping for a bargain.
• Some of the most counterfeited products in the region include pharmaceuticals, pesticides, electronics, cosmetics, alcohol, and cigarettes.
• According to the East African Business Council, counterfeit products, primarily fast-moving consumer goods, are costing East African states between US$500 million and US$1 billion per year.

Counterfeiting sticks like a sore thump or a bad hangover causing a big headache for governments and policymakers across East Africa as rising number of products including pesticides, cigarettes, and alcohol become deeply affected by the menace.

Some of the most counterfeited products in the region include pharmaceuticals, electronics, cosmetics, liquor, and cigarettes. Other products that are often counterfeited are clothing, shoes, and accessories, as well as automobile parts such as batteries.

The illegal trade of …

• Rwanda and Kenya who have already started trading through the agreement.
• Mid-February, Tanzania also said it was ready to trade under the agreement.
• The implementation of AfCFTA is projected to increase intra-African trade significantly, especially in manufacturing.

Uganda has expressed readiness to join Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda in trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as the continent slowly embraces the pact.

The implementation of AfCFTA is projected to increase intra-African trade significantly, especially in manufacturing.

The share of intra-Africa exports to total global exports is expected to increase in Tanzania by 28 per cent, Uganda by 29 per cent, Rwanda by 33 per cent and Kenya by 43 per cent.

“As Ugandan private sector, we are ready to trade under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative and follow our counterparts from Rwanda and Kenya who have already started trading through the agreement,” East African Business Council (EABC) Vice …

The CET maximum rate was a realization by the EAC Secretariat on the proposed Common External Tariff (CET) rates of 30 per cent, 33 per cent and 35 per cent classified under the fourth (maximum) band, which include textiles, iron, steel and motor vehicles.

The East African Business Council (EABC) urges the partner states- Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan- to adopt the maximum CET tariff trade to spur industrialization and strengthen the regional value chain.

In 2020, the total intra-EAC trade stood at 11.8 per cent, amounting to US$6.39 billion. The proposed 35 per cent tariff is set to boost the trade between EAC member states to US$6.4 billion.…

East African Business Council (EABC) and the East African Community (EAC) have held talks on strengthening the region’s private sector.

The new EABC Executive Director/CEO Mr. John Bosco Kalisa on Tuesday July 6, 2021 paid a courtesy call on the EAC Secretary-General Dr. Peter Mathuki at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania where private sector development and resolution of trade barriers were noted as top priorities for the East African Community (EAC).

Intra-EAC trade

The move is set to increase Intra-EAC trade and promote the region as an investment destination.

Dr. Mathuki noted that the private sector is key to fast-tracking regional integration and reiterated his commitment to collaborating with EABC to strengthen private sector development in the region.

“Following my engagements with EAC Heads of State over the past two months, a strong private sector and public sector partnership is the engine in driving the Community to prosperity,” Dr. …

United Kingdom High Commissioner to Tanzania David William Concar has visited the East African Business Council (EABC) Offices in Arusha.

EABC is the regional apex body of private sector associations and Corporates from the 6 East African countries which was established in 1997 to foster the interests of the private sector in the integration process of the East African Community.

The UK High Commissioner was welcomed by EABC Chief Executive Officer Mr. John Bosco Kalisa on Monday July 05, 2021 which was his debut day in office.

TradeMark East Africa (TMEA)

Mr. Kalisa who made his remarks while in his office appreciated the United Kingdom (UK) support to East African Business Council through TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) and highlighted the importance of the private sector as the driver of socio-economic growth in the East African Community region.

TMEA works closely with EAC institutions, national governments, the private sector and civil …

Conversation on market access has always been an interesting one. especially when it involves regional trade. A lot of factors come into play when this is mentioned. A lot of information is not readily available to players to make an informed decision with, whereas for the readily available information, players do not know about this fact.

The regional business body has noticed this and has organised a workshop to iron out some of these issues. They have rolled out this project in Burundi.

In partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the East African Business Council (EABC) and the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industries Burundi (CFCIB) and Association of the Traders of Burundi (ACOBU) are carrying out a workshop for trade practitioners in Burundi on the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

This workshop has been organized as part of the European Union-East African Community Market Access Programme …

Negotiators agreed to raise the East Africa Community’s (EAC) upper tariff band to 32 per cent.

This breaks a deadlock that has delayed review of the customs taxes for close to 10 years.

Currently, east Africa’s three-band common external tariff (CET) structure has an upper rate of 25 per cent, which is the private sector blames for letting in cheaper goods from outside the bloc.

Raw materials and capital goods are currently charged zero per cent by the region, while inputs are charged 10 per cent and 25 per cent on finished goods imports.

In addition, items that can be produced within, EAC has put them under the sensitive list to attract CET at rates between 35 and 100 per cent this includes a number of products such as maize, rice and textile.

According to the agreement, the tariffs will be reviewed to charge import duty of 32 per cent …

Tanzania has opened up its borders for an alcoholic drink from Kenya which had been barred entry since March this year.

This is in the wake of the ongoing Public- Private Dialogue(PPD) with trade facilitation agencies at One-Stop Borders across the East Africa Community, aimed at adressing cross-border barriers.

READ:Kenyans lament trade discrepancies with Tanzania

The initaive is under a TradeMark East Africa(TMEA) and East African Business Council (EABC) programme which scrutinizes if EAC agreements and practices are easing doing business across borders.

The PPDs focus is on the extent to which partner states are translating the EAC Common Market and Customs Union Protocols into policies that support the actualization of free movement of goods and people.

The debut EABC Public-Private Dialogue with Trade Facilitation Agencies at Namanga One-Stop Border Post brought together officials from Ministries of EAC Affairs, immigration, bureaus of standards, plant and animal health, sanitary and …

The Kenyan business community is now hopeful Tanzania will uphold its commitment of opening up its borders for trade under the Single Customs Territory (SCT), after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Tanzania this weekend.

The diplomatic and trade relations of the two countries had last week plummeted following remarks by a Nairobi politician, which indicated foreigners would be thrown out.

Emotions ran high among legislators of the two countries, after Kenyan-Starehe MP Charles Njagua’s remarks on foreigners.

The legislator on June 26, turned the heat on foreign traders accusing them of taking over key city markets, while they harassed. He threatened to flash out foreigners and have them deported.

Njagua’s sentiments were not well received in Tanzania where a heated debate ensued in Parliament, with legislators threatening a diplomatic action against Kenya.

READ ALSO:Tanzania’s ‘jilted lover’ attitude hinders uniting East Africa

Tanzania’s opposition leader Freeman Mbowe said though Hon.Njagua …