PRESS RELEASE
East African Business Council marks 20th Anniversary
and launches its inaugural EABC Business Excellence Awards
Nairobi, Kenya: 10th January, 2018:- November 2017 marked 20 years since the establishment of The
East African Business Council (EABC). An apex body of business associations and
corporates from the six East African Community partner States of Kenya, Uganda,
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi & South Sudan, EABC’s raison d’etre is two-fold:
(i) to provide a regional platform through which the business community can
present their policy concerns with the overall aim of creating a more conducive
business environment and; (ii) to promote EAC’s private sector regional and
global competitiveness in trade and investment through addressing challenges
experienced by EABC members at organizational and firm level. With these
mandates, EABC has been instrumental in spearheading various initiatives to
foster the spirit of EAC within corporate circles.
The EABC Secretariat has outlined a number of activities and
events to celebrate the 20th Anniversary milestone. At a media event
held in Nairobi, EABC Executive Director, Ms. Lilian Awinja noted: “The 20th
Anniversary provides an opportunity for EABC to take stock of where we have
come from, celebrating achievements across various fronts as well as
re-positioning ourselves for the future in line with the evolving and dynamic
policy and business environments both regionally and globally.”
Ms. Awinja noted that the planned activities and events would
provide an opportunity not only to celebrate but also to demonstrate the
critical importance of private sector participation in the EAC integration
process.
The Inaugural EABC Business Excellence Awards (BEA)
Highlighting one of the planned activities, Ms. Awinja announced
the launch of the inaugural ‘EABC Business Excellence Awards.’ The
Awards are aimed at showcasing and celebrating businesses that have achieved
excellence in various aspects of their operations across East Africa, keeping
with the spirit of the East African integration.
Speaking during the launch of the awards, she said, “The
Business sector is a driving force in East Africa’s economy through the
creation of jobs and opportunities that enable citizens to earn a living and
thrive as well as being a major player in the integration process. The idea to
host these awards was thus born out of the need for a platform upon which the
Council will honour businesses that have achieved success through their vision,
operations and business ethics.”
Award Categories
The inaugural EABC Business Excellence Awards will be organized
across three categories. The first category will see one company feted as the
Overall East African Regional Company. A second category of awards will
recognize business that have excelled in cross cutting categories, namely
Manufacturing, Services, SME, Woman owned enterprise, Green Economy, Innovation
and Corporate Social Responsibility. A third category will award companies
excelling in a specific industry and will reward outstanding companies across 7
industries, namely Financial Services, Transport and Logistics (including
airline), Media, Tourism & Hospitality, Building & Construction and
Extractive & Mining sector.
Entry process
Entries are open for
companies established in any of the EAC Partner States with each company
eligible to submit bids for at most three categories of the awards. This may
include one entry for the overall award and any two entries for either the
cross cutting category or the sector specific categories. The three entries may
also be from the cross cutting and sector specific categories only.
Entries will be
completed online through a dedicated portal (page) : http://eabc-online.com/awards that will sit within the EABC website. Entrants will
register in the portal, giving basic information about the
individual/organization. Once registered in the portal, entrants will choose
the category that they wish to enter and complete the official entry form. The
entry forms detail all the information required for each of the categories.
Judging Panel
The EABC BEAs has a six-member Panel of Judges to adjudicate
entries. The Panel comprises individuals who command in-depth understanding of
the EAC integration processes, the business dynamics of the EAC region as well
as the role that the private sector can play in shaping the development of the
region. The members of the Panel are:
1. Ms. Consolata Ndayishimiye, former
Chairperson of EABC, Leading business person in The Republic of Burundi.
2. Eng. Patrick Obath, Associate Director,
Adam Smith International Africa Limited and business leader in The Republic of
Kenya.
3. Mr. Faustin Mbundu, former Chairperson
of EABC, former chair of Private Sector Federation (PSF) Rwanda, Chairman MFK
Group and leading business person in The Republic of Rwanda.
4. Mr. Moses Ogwal Goli, Director of
Policy, Private Sector Foundation, Uganda.
5. Mr. Godfrey Simbeye, Executive Director,
Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF)
6. Ms. Jennifer Gache, Senior Industrial
Engineer, East African Community Secretariat.
To ensure objectivity, transparency and accuracy in the judging
process, Ms. Awinja highlighted that EABC will work with an Audit partners whose mandate will be to review the end to end process of the
Business Excellence Awards.
The EABC Business Excellence Awards process will commence today,
10th January, 2018 and will run until 17th February, 2018. The
judging and verification process will run from 19th February to 9th
March, 2018. Each category will have three finalists, who will be announced on
Monday 12th March, 2018. The ultimate winners will be feted at a
Gala Dinner scheduled for 23rd March, 2018 at the Hotel
Intercontinental, Nairobi. Winners will receive a trophy and certificate of
recognition in addition to earning the ultimate accolade of business excellence
among peers in the East African region.
-Ends-
Notes to Editors
The East African Business Council (EABC) is the apex body of
business associations of the Private Sector and Corporates from the 6 East
African Countries. It was established in 1997 to foster the interests of the
Private Sector in the integration process of the East African Community.
Originally comprising members from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, its membership
was expanded to include private sector from Burundi and Rwanda as well as South
Sudan in 2007 and 2016 respectively. Currently, EABC draws its membership from
Associations and corporate Members. Amongst the associations are all the
national Private Sector Apex Bodies; manufacturers’ Associations;
Chambers of Commerce, Employer Associations; Women Associations,
Bankers Associations and the Confederation of Informal Sector Associations of
East Africa. Given that the Secretariat is based in Arusha, EABC’s structure
includes National Focal Points (NFPs) – who are all currently the national
private sector apex bodies.
EABC’s overarching objective is to be an effective change agent
for fostering an enabling business environment and to promote private sector’s
regional and global competitiveness in trade and investment. EABC therefore
provides a regional platform through which the business community can present
their concerns at the EAC policy level, with the overall aim of creating a more
conducive business environment through targeted policy reforms. Additionally,
EABC also work towards promoting private sector’s regional & global
competitiveness in trade and Investment through addressing challenges
experienced by Members at organizational and firm level; and through provision
of tailored market intelligence.
EABC’s key stakeholders are primarily the EAC Secretariat, the Business
Community as represented through Members and their affiliates, National Policy
Makers, EAC organs and institutions and other key national and regional
organizations working towards enhancing private sector participation in the EAC
and global integration. EABC has an “Observer Status” at the EAC, which enables
us to attend and participate in all relevant EAC activities and deliberations,
not only at the Secretariat but also in other organs and institutions.
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