1st Annual Regional Agricultural Outlook Symposium and Gala Dinner held in Lusaka Zambia from 4th- 5th November, 2014

The Regional Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ReNAPRI) hosted the 1^st Annual Regional Agricultural Outlook Symposium and Gala Dinner in Lusaka Zambia from 4^th- 5^th November, 2014 at the Intercontinental Hotel. The meeting ran under the theme “Anticipating and Responding to the Region’s Policy Challenges in the Decade Ahead,” and aimed at facilitating and fostering ownership in the development and implementation of regional agricultural policy by bringing together an extensive regional cadre of around 200 high level guests and experts from both the public and private sector to discuss issues pertinent to the development of sustainable, coherent, and consistent agricultural policy.

 ReNAPRI is a regionally coordinated group of national agricultural policy research institutes duly established and operating in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region, namely; the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. ReNAPRI strives to support the national agricultural policy research institutes in these countries to be centers of excellence that guide and inform national and regional agricultural and food security policy issues. 

ReNAPRI hosted this event in conjunction with the FoodTrade ESA programme and the Guiding Investments in Sustainable Agriculture in Africa (GISAIA) Programme. The symposium aimed to demonstrate ReNAPRI’s acuity in producing empirical evidence for regional agricultural policy formulation and development in line with its mission to;“support  dynamic  collaboration  amongst  national  agricultural  policy  research institutes  to  produce  sustainable  and  high-quality  research,  outreach  and  capacity  development  that promotes national and regional agricultural policy objectives.”

High Level public private dialogue on opportunities and challenges in the iron and steel industry value chains in the East African Community (EAC)

The EAC Secretariat has prioritized investment in iron and steel sector as a strategic value chain that can enable job creation and facilitate socio economic transformation in the region. In this regard it has commissioned a value chain study in order to generate comprehensive information on investment potentials in the sectors, identify policy and other regulatory constrains to the growth of the sectors and propose actions required to stimulate investment and development of the value chain.

To enable consultations in the investment opportunities identified in the study and the proposed policy interventions, the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development and the Mining Associations organised a National dialogue among stakeholders in the public and private sectors that was held at the Laico Regency Hotel in Nairobi on the 11^th November 2014.

During the dialogue, presentations were made by the private sector, key government officials, development partners and other stakeholders highlighting the strategic role of each stakeholder towards the realization of the study recommendations

The forum was attended by stakeholders drawn from the Private Sector, Government Policy makers, Development Partners, Academia, Financial Institutions and other stakeholders.

During the Forum, Mr. Richard N. Muteti, the CEO of the Kenya National Federation of Jua Kali Associations and Chairman of the COMESA Business Council SMEs Workgroup made a presentation on “Opportunities and Challenges in the development of Iron and Steel Metal Fabrication Sector”

The workshop report for the TradeMark East Africa convened SME Platform Exploratory Meeting.

This follows the workshop that was recently held with SME representatives and other BMOs from across the region. The main agenda was to agree if indeed there was a need to set up a regional platform to address SME issues/challenges which included: 

1.            Transport and Logistic services in East Africa and Non-tariff measures affecting growth                 of SMEs.

2.            How to improve SME export capacity and the role of trade facilitation organizations in increasing the competitiveness of export oriented SMEs.

3.            Policy requirements for enhancing competitiveness of SMEs in East Africa.

4.            Role of Innovation and Technology in improving SME Competitiveness. 

Importantly, the participants agreed that there needs to be a structured support programme for addressing SME related issues. They however agreed that there needs to be careful due diligence to ensure duplication of efforts is mitigated. Below please see the recommendations that were adopted at the end of the meeting: 

1.            The participants agreed to the formation of an SME platform with a caution that it must specifically be tailor-made to meet the SME needs at the regional level, arising from each of the EAC Partner States.

2.            The platform should not replace the existing entities, but can spread/share knowledge on best practices, depending on the roles that will be assigned to the platform.

3.            TMEA should facilitate a SME assessment/research to document the mandate of existing SME associations/organizations in the region, identify best practices and also to establish the viability of setting up an SME platform that is sustainable.

4.            It was noted that, the East African Charter in Article 125(4) makes provision for a dialogue framework. However, it was agreed that creating a platform would not threaten the position of the EABC or its activities.

TradeMark East Africa is currently following this up with internal consultations on the best way forward and gather more information on how best to structure and effective advocacy vehicle for the SMEs

CITI Bank launches the CITI-Micro entrepreneurship Awards 2014 in Kenya

The Citi-Micro entrepreneurship Awards 2014 was launched in the capital city of Nairobi by the chief executive of Citi Bank Kenya in a Nairobi hotel.

The objective of the 2014 Citi-Micro entrepreneurship Awards program is to illustrate and promote the effective role that the microfinance plays in poverty alleviation in Kenya. In particular, the program seeks to generate recognition for the extraordinary contributions that individual micro entrepreneurs have made to the economic sustainability of their families as well as their communities in Kenya.

Among the goals of the CMA Awards are:

To raise awareness and support of micro entrepreneurs by highlighting their talents and accomplishments among the investment and donor community throughout the world

To create the next generation of microfinance networks, build more inclusive financial sectors and lay the foundation for a flourishing microfinance industry

Among the invited guests during the launch were top officials from the Association Of Micro Finance Institutions (AMFI) , Citi Bank, CMA Awards advisory council and other invited guests.

MALAWI- NASME CALLS FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATIONS IN BUSINESS

 BY LAWRENCE LAZARUS

 National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (Nasme) has  tipped local small scale entrepreneurs to embrace regional  integrations as the get way to penetrating the international market.
 
 Speaking in Lilongwe during a trade fare attended by traders from  Kenya Tanzania and Malawi, Nasme Director William Mwale  said through  international patnerships local traders can have an affordable  platform to reach the international market as well as learn how to  best approach the international market. "Through international partnerships local small scale entrepreneurs  can easily penetrate the international market. Normally it is hard for  local traders to just go and trade in Zambia, Tanzania or Kenya  because it would be too expensive but with partnerships they have that  platform," Mwale said.
 
 He said through such partnership the association has exposed small  scale entrepreneurs to international markets like Tanzania, Kenya and  India and that plans are in place to hold more of the trade fairs. One of the participating traders from Kenya Winnie Musaba held the  local market, saying despite the economy being in shambles business is  in better shape in the country hence urged small scale entrepreneurs  to take advantage of the tranquil atmosphere in the country.
 
 "Here in Malawi its so peaceful unlike in my country Kenya where we  are always in fear of Al shabab and other terrorist groups so I would  say Malawi is a good environment for business," Musaba.