EABC NEWS FLASH - OCTOBER 2004
Dear Stakeholders of East African Business Council,
Welcome to the October, 2004, issue of EABC News Flash.
In this issue:
EABC Goes Online
YOU can now access EABC website at www.eabc-online.com. The site, probably the most significant news item EABC members have be looking forward to in recent times, contains an array of detailed information about EABC, its members, EABC lobby campaigns, statistics on trade in the region, international cooperation WTO Manual and activities at the East African Community.
EABS - EABC Partnership Urged
THE third Edition of the annual East Africa Business Summit held in the scenic Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge in Arusha, Tanzania, from September 23 to 26, 2004, more that anything else reinforced the significant role EABC is playing in championing the needs and aspirations of the private sector in East Africa.
The Summit, attended by a total of 73 of the region's best business minds including ministers from the three EAC partners states, EAC Secretariat, as well as EABC top brass, agreed that for any meaningful strides to be made with regards to making East African region competitive, it was necessary for all well-meaning initiatives with regional dimension, to coalesce around EABC since it represents the voice of the private sector in East Africa.
At the core of this understanding was a deliberate effort by the captains of industry to work out a formula through which EABS could work in concert with EABC for the purpose of following through the action plans agreed at the Summit.
Questions had been raised as to why very little was being realized in the implementation of action plans agreed on in the previous two Summits held in Nanyuki Kenya and, the Chief executives were remarkably candid in their self-evaluation.
According to the Chairman of the Convenors Committee of the Summit, Mr. Wilfred Kiboro, the Chief Executives had no excuse for not implementing the action plans. “Our being busy is no excuse,” he said. “It is just a question of willingness and commitment. If EABS cannot create a structure that would push agreed issues forward, it should subcontract an existing institution to the deal with the issues.”
Equally vexed was the issue of the domination of the Summit by participants from Kenya, with most participants voicing the opinion that the spirit and the fabric of the summit was being undermined, and that the issue could only be resolved if EABC was given the mandate to organize and coordinate the annual event that has now become a ritual.
“The issue is why is it (the Summit) skewed in favour of Kenya,” quipped Kenya 's minister for Planning and National Development, Professor Anyang' Nyong'o. “And the challenge is how can it be made more representative.”
At the end of it, EABC's Chairman, Mr. Hirji Shah, summed it up aptly. “It is a matter of finding a good working relationship between EABC and EABS. EABC are members of EABS and vice versa. We have a vehicle that EABS can use. He promised to work towards realising partnership between the two bodies.
EABC and EABS to sign an MOU
EABC and EABS have moved to solidify and formalise their partnership.
At a meeting held between the EABC and EABS in Nairobi, on October 27, 2004, the two agreed on the need for a Memorandum of Understanding spelling out how key recommendations of this year's Summit, held at Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge, Arusha, on September 23-26, 2004, can be implemented. EABC, they agreed, would also participate in the monthly EABS Steering Committee meetings.
They resolved that:
• EABC would be the key institution for the implementation of action points agreed at the Summits
• they will cooperate in the preparation of the next Summit to be held in Kampala, Uganda, with a view to realizing increased participation from Tanzania and Ugandan business community.
• EABS would support EABC's membership recruitment drive with the expectation that if 20 EABS participants joined EABC, this would boost the organisation's institutional capacity.
The Chairman's of EABC, Mr. Hirji Shah, led EABC's team, while the Chairman of EABS Convenors Committee, Mr. Wilfred Kiboro represented EABS.
A New Chapter in SME Development: EABC and APDF Team-up to give SMEs a New Lease of Life
THE East African Business Council (EABC) and Africa Project Development Facility (APDF), an affiliate of the World Bank's private sector lending arm, IFC, have announced an initiative that will see the two organisations collaborate in promoting the development of private sector in East Africa.
The joint-initiative which started with the joint-organisation of a four-day training course: “Enhancing SME Consulting Skills Course” held at Illboru Safari Lodge, Arusha, from October 4-7, 2004, will however be structured to benefit SMEs operating in the region. It will take the dimension of training of consultants, who will then be required to impart the skills and knowledge acquired to the small-time entrepreneurs.
To make the initiative more meaningful, the two organizations agreed to work towards standardization and accreditation of consultants in the region, with a view to injecting professionalism in the field, which is at present teeming with all manner of experts. The two resolved to spearhead the setting up of consultancy institutes in the three EAC partner-states, to achieve this goal.
“The underlying principle is that we work together to create an enabling environment that will make it possible for SMEs to access business development services without difficulties,” said Mr. Ndiritu Muriithi, a Business Development Officer at the APDF, Nairobi Office. “The main objective is to equip the consultants with the requisite skill to improve the quality of service to the SMEs, to make it possible for them to be innovative and appreciate professionalism and ethics in consultancy.
The Executive Director of EABC, Mr. Elly Manjale, who was the Chief Guest at the closing of the workshop, said that the services of consultants had become even more indispensable in East Africa in light of the increasing demand brought about by the quest for quality by private sector players eager to grow and expand, more specifically the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), that dot the East African region. “A lot more firms are seeking the services of consultants to better package their products and services to meet the needs of discerning consumers,” he said.
The move by the two organisations come at a time when EABC is preparing to open its doors wider to bring on board Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs). The organization is in the process of preparing a proposal that it will use as a benchmark to recruit SME associations, starting early next year.
EAC Integration: Can Culture Provide the Much-Needed Leverage?
IT was pomp and glamour as Kenyans living in Arusha converged at the serene Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge for the maiden Kenya Night-Arusha on September 22, 2004 . The get-together however was not going to be complete without the colourful display of Kenya 's national costume (kikoi) recently introduced after months of backbreaking research. Coincidentally, it was the Chief guest, the EABC Chairman, Mr. Hirji Shah, who proudly stepped forward in the attire to a raucous approval of Kenyans who hitherto had only seen the dress in the media.
But that was not the most important item on the menu that night. Key speakers at the function, which was also graced by the presence of the Kenya's Attorney General, Mr. Amos Wako, Kenya's High Commissioner to Tanzania, Mr. Muburi Muita, Ugandan's Minister for local Government, Professor Kabashie Katejere and his Kenyan counterpart, Mr. Musikari Kombo and the Chairman of Kenya Chapter of East African Legislative Assembly, Mr. Calista Mwatela, used the occasion to extol the significance of culture as a critical ingredient in the integration process perhaps echoing the theme of the event: “Unity through Cultural Diversity.”
In the words of Mr. Shah, even the best-crafted treaties could prove to be socially and economically difficult to implement unless the social and cultural aspects are clearly defined and blended into them. “Here in East Africa , much as the culture is diverse, we have traveled the same path over the years,” he said. “The Luhyas in Western Kenya may love watching bull fights while the Mijikenda of the coast province may enjoy exchanging ideas over Mnazi (wine) but a closer look at our historical, geographic and economic background reveals an origin that does not contrast much. It is with this in mind that we need to look beyond the physical boundaries that exist between us and cooperate especially in matters of trade.”
EABC, he said, not only considers culture a social commodity but a service that has a tradable value. “Those involved in cultural activities like music, etc, should therefore think of how they can develop them, add value and exploit them to make profits. Music, for example, has become quite profitable and a tool to unite people.”
It is worth noting that the experts who crafted the EAC Treaty remembered this aspect and penned two significant articles that specifically deal with culture.
Article 5 of the East Africa Community Treaty states clearly that the objectives of EAC are shall be to develop policies and programmes aimed at widening and deepening co-operation among the Partner States in political, economic, social and cultural fields, research and technology, defense, security and legal and judicial affairs, for their mutual benefit.
This goal is further reinforced by Article 119 of the Treaty which states that EAC Partners-States shall seek to promote close cooperation among themselves through such avenues as promotion of cultural activities, including fine arts, literature, Music and other artistic creations and the conservation, safeguarding and development of cultural heritage of partners-states including historical materials and antiquities.
Quality Assurance: Why Standards Need to be Harmonised in EAC
THE East African Business Council in collaboration with the German National Institute of Metrology (PTB), have embarked on an ambitious exercise aimed at raising awareness on Quality Infrastructure issues – Standardisation, Quality, Management, Accreditation, Metrology and Testing (SQMT) – on the level of small and medium enterprises, consumers and policy makers, in East African region.
A workshop jointly organised by the two organisations and held between September 26-29, 2004, in Arusha, Tanzania and attended by stakeholders in the SQMT industry from the region, established a plan of action, and drew up activities with a view to improve dialogue among providers and users of SQMT, develop regional SQMT services according to the needs of the industry, and identify the bottlenecks in networking of stakeholders and finding of solutions for upgrading flow of information.
The initiative is the publicity component of a two-phased six-year project dubbed “Establishment of a Regional SQMT-infrastructure in the East African Community” and is being implemented with the Secretariat of the East African Community and the East African Bureaux of Standards. Its objective is to establish a regional SQMT Infrastructure in the East African community.
The project is borne out of the realisation that metrology, standardization, accreditation and testing are important elements for the quality assurance of industrial products and services and safeguarding the general living conditions. In developed countries, for example, control mechanisms have been developed in the course of decades, which allows this technique to be applied without risk.
Africa May not Attain Millennium Development Goals - Report
A new update on the status of African's economy lists the strengthening of the macroeconomic environment, the recovery of non-fuel commodity prices, debt relief under the enhanced HIPC initiative, and the implementation of the poverty Reduction Strategy Papers by most countries in Africa as responsible for improvement in the performance of the continent as a whole throughout 2003, but adds that current growth level is still inadequate to reach the Mil lennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“ Most countries, with the exception of South Africa and many of the countries of North Africa , will have to increase their growth rate up to 6-8 per cent,” says the 2004 Africa Development Report . “In order to achieve that rate of growth, aid flows will have to be increased, external debt will have to be reduced to sustainable levels and market access for African exports will have to be improved significantly. In addition to that the macroeconomic environment in most countries will have to be improved further, governance and institutions will have to be strengthened and the human capital of the continent has to be developed further.”
The report, a product of the sixteenth annual survey of economic and social progress in Africa , the growth rate of real GDP in Africa rose from 2.9 per cent in 2002 to 3.7 per cent in 2003.
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Elly Manjale
Executive Director
East African Business Council,
Arusha International Conference Centre,
Room 517, 5th Floor, Ngorongoro Wing
P.O Box 2617 Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 27 250 9997
Fax: +255 27 250 9997
E-mail: info@eabc-online.com
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