EAC Should Be Promoted As a Single Investment Destination

October 25, 2016 ----The maiden East African Business & Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition ended in Nairobi, Kenya, on October 13, 2016, with a consensus on the need for promoting the East African Community (EAC) as a single investment destination.

Organized by the East African Business Council (EABC) in collaboration with respective national investment agencies of the EAC, the conference brought together more than 300 high-level government and private sector decision makers from all partner states as well as business leaders and investors from across the globe.

U.S Envoy to Kenya, Ambassador Robert Godec, who was among the high profile delegates, said entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment are critical to the future of East Africa and, the American Government was keen to support the region in this endeavor.

Other high-level personalities who were in attendance included UNCTAD Secretary General, Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, former EAC Secretaries General, Dr Richard Sezibera and Ambassador Juma Mwapachu as well as Uganda's Minister of State for EAC Affairs, Julius Maganda Wandera and Ambassador Jean Riggi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry to the Office of the Burundian President Responsible for East African Community Affairs.

The EABC Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Lilian Awinja, said after four days of lively and sophisticated discussions the conference saw an urgent need for promoting the EAC as one investment destination as the region presents investors with many opportunities as well as a large consolidated market.

Indeed, the EAC is one of the largest free trading blocs in Africa with a robust Common Market comprising a population of over 160 million citizens offering crucial opportunities for business and investments.

“In this regard, the EABC is ready jointly with EAC and Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) to market the investment opportunities in the region to increase trade and investment in the region,”Ms Awinja said as she read the outcomes.

The EABC CEO explained that there was a clear indication that the EAC is a region full of investment opportunities, in many sectors, including but not limited to infrastructure, agri-business, ICT, Cotton and Textiles, Leather, Manufacturing, Energy, Services and the education sectors.

It was also clear that the region is open and ready for business and investment, she added, as she stressed the fact that, over the past five years, the EAC governments have made 65 key reforms to improve the business environment for the sectors to become even more attractive to investors.

Yet another outcome, Ms. Awinja said was the need for the EAC partner states to consider having a clearly thought out investment strategy, outlining key sectors in which the region wants to attract both local and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).

Indeed, the head of the German delegation member of the executive Board of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Dr Stefan Mair, said that East Africa is one of the most appealing markets in Sub-Saharan Africa for German industry.

“The East African Business and Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition offers an opportunity for a closer cooperation between East Africa and Germany. It is a platform for companies that are looking to invest in the EAC, to develop joint ventures and to establish partnerships with their EAC counterparts” Dr. Mair explained.

The conference also agreed that as part of improving the EAC investment framework, the challenges impeding the realization of the full potential of the Customs Union and Common Market should be addressed.

These include ensuring the single customs territory is fully in place, addressing non-tariff barriers, harmonizing domestic tax regimes, allowing free movement of labour and services including service providers, and defining local to mean EAC, among others. This paragraph should be a continuation of the above and not an isolated para.

The meeting also underscored the importance to internationalize SMEs and regional value chains, especially for imported inputs, to be developed in EAC and across Africa, as a first step to integrating companies into global value chains.

Owing to growth trajectory indicating that Tanzania and Uganda will attain low middle-income country status in the near future, the conference underlined the need for the EAC partner states to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in a bid to safeguard the European (EU) market. 

“The failure of all partner states to jointly sign EPA, however, should not be seen as denoting the collapse of the EAC integration,” said Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization and Enterprise Development, Mr Adan Mohamed.

 

For Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General there is more to EAC than the EU market, encouraging the region to be strong on implementation of policies to achieve more results.

 “However, we see EPA as an opportunity that the EAC region should not miss. We urge Partner States to jointly sign the agreement” Ms Awinja also noted.

In terms of financing for entrepreneurs, this calls for preparation of bankable projects based on correct or updated market intelligence and putting in place clear company systems, including financial and human capital management and linkages to markets.

On the cotton, textile and leather industries, the conference urged the EAC partner states to devise the strategies to develop them in a bid to attract both local and foreign investors.

The participants also underlined the need for EAC Partner states to embrace local sourcing by ensuring that 50 percent of their government procurement is local and with a special consideration for women entrepreneurship.

The East African Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition is an annual forum, which rotates in all EAC partner states under the auspices of National Investment Agencies.

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