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Browsing: East African Community
Should a common currency in the EAC come to fruition, the trade will be fueled by a reduction, albeit limited, in transaction costs, the elimination of exchange rate risk and region-wide price harmonisation – all of which will undoubtedly be underpinned by policy incentives.
- Monetary Union is the third stage towards EAC regional integration, capped through Political Federation.
- Considering individual economies are relatively small, currency harmonisation might play a significant role in improving intra-African trade.
- The IMF, through its chief Christine Lagarde, previously warned the EAC not to rush into a currency union, pointing to the issues faced in Europe.
Interest in regional integration, including monetary, in Africa has remained intense over the decades since independence. Consequently, various regional groupings have been formed. Those initiatives were stimulated by the generally small size of individual economies. This led to a desire to promote economies of scale in production and distribution. A…
The rising commodity prices, surging inflationary pressures, and the contracting global financial situation have risked African trade and production capabilities. Moreover, the rising threat of sovereign defaults poses a severe risk to the growth of African trade. Thus, African trade prospects remain unclear, considering the challenging global economic scenario.
The Covid-19, energy and food shortages have hit with the countries having minimal or no policy space to respond. As a result, African countries have fallen into a real risk of debt distress and even possibilities for sovereign debt default.…
Regressive taxation, bureaucracy, and the expense of regulatory compliance are cited in the Plan as the main obstacles to rescuing Kenya from the “economic hole” it is now in.
Examining and streamlining all business licences is the first step in the economic reform process, intending to cap overall licencing expenses at 1.5% of turnover fees.
As correctly stated in the Plan, passing an administrative burden law resembling the Reduction of Paperwork Act in the United States of America will guarantee that no company spends more than four person-hours per month on tax and regulatory compliance.
The ease and cost of conducting business in Kenya have remained critical barriers to the country’s economic growth.…
There are increasingly more and more ‘outbreaks’ of non-communicable diseases in Africa and more so in sub-Saharan Africa.
These lifestyle ailments are ironically a symbol of increasing income among the population. As more and more African countries rise from low-income to middle-income status, statistics show a correlation with the rising number of people suffering from non-communicable diseases.
The reason is simple; when you rise in income, people do not increase their eating of the vitamin-rich greens they used to eat when they could not afford unhealthy but yet prestigious red meat; no, they change their diet to gabble up the ‘rich man’ foods, unwittingly damaging their health.
A local paper puts it into perspective; ‘People’s eating habits are shifting from food rich in starchy staples, vegetables and fruits to a more westernized diet high in sugar, saturated fats and oils’ the recipe for non-communicable diseases.
The troubling fact is that …
- The open skies policy will allow foreign airlines to easily access national airports to boost tourism
- In early July, aviation stakeholders resorted to testing the opening up of African skies during a conference held in Nairobi
- Intra-Africa air connectivity still remains low, with African airlines accounting for 1.9 per cent of global traffic in 2021, down from 3.5 per cent in the 1980s
“We want to look on now
Infrastructure development continues to be a vital driver of foreign direct investment (FDI) since logistics are so necessary for global business development, mainly e-commerce, which is now a significant generator of income and jobs at home and abroad.…
This platform aims to harness the potential of the potato value chain in the region to enable proper production and commercialization of the food crop on the realization that it is one of the key agricultural produce traded and consumed widely. Over 2.2 million farmers across the EAC partner states earn their living from the potato sector.
The Jumuiya Potato Platform has now been formalized under a Public-Private Partnership structure to enable sustainable research, innovation and free trade right from the potato seed.
The Potato Platform has been arrived at after a series of engagements between stakeholders representing national governments on the public front, farmers and traders on the private side with guidance from the EAC Secretariat and the EABC. Facilitated by GIZ, the stakeholders launched Jumuiya Potato Platform after a two-day regional meeting held in Kampala. …
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Last year, the Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (AfDB) approved another loan of around $116 million to Tanzania for the upgrade of a 160-km road corridor in the southern part of the country.
This enormous funding by the Bank actually served to cover 98.71% of the project cost; while the remaining 1.29% was met by the government of Tanzania. It is expected that the AfDB will continue funding Tanzania’s road works and other transport infrastructure especially given the country’s strategic geographical location.
Tanzania is the gateway into Africa’s interior and it is also the way out to the rest of the world via the Indian Ocean.
In Tanzania, it is the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) is responsible for the improvement of road maintenance and development. The Agency is responsible for the management of 35,000 Km of roads made up of 12,786 Km of trunk roads and …
- Tanzania’s Government is scheduled to open the 2022 Tanzania Energy Congress (TEC) this August in the country’s commercial port city of Dar es Salaam
- TEC will highlight the plans and priorities of the Ministry of Energy with regard to the next strategic steps in both the energy and hydrocarbons sectors in Tanzania
- This annual event premiered four years ago under the steward strategic partnership of Ocean Business Partners Tanzania
Tanzania’s Government is scheduled to open the 2022 Tanzania Energy Congress (TEC) this August in the country’s commercial port city of Dar es Salaam.
Hosted under the flagship of the Energy Ministry, under the patronage of His Excellency January Makamba, Minister for Energy, TEC will highlight the plans and priorities of the Ministry of Energy with regard to the next strategic steps in both the energy and hydrocarbons sectors in Tanzania.
The two-day conference (3 – 4 August 2022) will feature …