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East Africa News

  • Tanzania’s economy is expected to grow by 20 basis points to 7.4 % in 2017.

    TANZANIA, 2016/07/04 Tanzania’s economy is expected to grow by 20 basis points to 7.4 % in 2017. According to the country’s central bank, this increase will be driven by construction, communications and finance. The country is experiencing increased real estate development for residential and non- residential purposes and building of road networks. “Construction has been the major contributor to increase for the completed two years contributing 23.9 % and 18.8 % in 2015 and 2014, respectively,” noted the bank in its monetary policy satement
  • Kenya's Q1 2016 GDP growth improves, buoyed by tourism

    KENYA, 2016/07/04   Kenya ‘s economy expanded by 5.9 % in the initial quarter of 2016 compared to 5 % in the same period last year. According to the country’s bureau of statistics, the increase is attributed to a rebound in the tourism sector. Tourism is a key foreign exchange earner but has plunged in recent years following a spate of security incidents that kept visitors away from the country.
  • India’s African safari

    INDIA, 2016/07/04 June 2016 has seen an unprecedented intensification of India’s relationship with Africa. In the initial week, Vice President Hamid Ansari visited Tunisia and Morocco. In the second week, President Pranab Mukherjee launched his whirlwind tour of Western and Southern Africa, covering Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Namibia. And, in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa. Ever since the Third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) in 2015, Modi has been building bridges with African nations, soliciting support for a host of multilateral initiatives. It’s as well unabashedly about business, a good example of geo-politics conference geo-economics. For instance, Ansari’s visit to Morocco and Tunisia are key, because India imports phosphate — a critical raw material for fertiliser production — from these nations. Ansari as well inaugurated an India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce during his trip to Rabat.
  • Nairobi to host 14th UN conference on trade and development

    KENYA, 2016/07/04 Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is earmarked to host the next United Nations Conference on Trade and Improvment(UNCTAD). The 14th edition of the UNCTAD summit to be held between July 17-22 would take place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, according to the United Nations data center in Naorobi. President Uhuru Kenyatta is billed to open the week-long conference. Thousands of delegates inclunding Heads of National and Government, ministers, academic and economic experts, representatives of the private sector and members of nongovernmental organizations are expected to attend.
  • This $6 a month solar energy plan could power a million homes in Africa by 2017

    MALAWI, 2016/07/04 The biggest obstacle to powering off-grid homes is infrastructure. The problem, specifically in sparsely populated areas, is a lack of power lines. Without lines going to a remote power grid, a lot of communities lack the access they need to electricity. Entire villages can remain dark. But there are ways around that. A startup called Off-Grid Electric is looking to use cheap rooftop solar panels for energy in rural parts of Africa, instead of building expensive infrastructure.
  • Israeli PM to embark on historic Africa visit boosting diplomatic, economic ties

    ISRAEL, 2016/07/04 Beyond diplomacy and trade, visit holds personal meaning for Netanyahu marking 40 years since Entebbe raid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart on an historic visit to Africa on Monday, seeking to strengthen relations with new trade partners and marking the 40th anniversary of the Entebbe hostage rescue in which his brother died. The Prime Minister will visit Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Netanyahu's visit will be his initial as premier, and the initial visit to the region by and Israeli Prime Minister in over three decades since Yitzhak Rabin visited Casablanca in 1994.
  • Commodity dip hits China’s little Africa

    CHINA, 2016/07/04 With few customers at his wholesale jeans store in Guangzhou these days, Nigerian trader Brien Chuks busies himself looking next his three-month old baby. “Last year I sold 12 shipping containers of jeans back to west Africa but this year I haven’t managed to fill a single one,” says Mr Chuks, who operates from the Canaan market in China’s third-biggest city, like a lot of other Africa-focused exporters. “The Nigerian economy depends on oil so with the crude price having fallen so low, business is very hard.” In a sign of the circularity in the world economy, the Africa-focused traders who have long thrived in Guangzhou are suffering because of a commodities-driven slump in their home continent that from presently on originated in China. At the same time as rapid Chinese increase pumped up prices of oil and metals, resource-rich parts of Africa thrived, buying additional consumer goods from Guangzhou. Presently the opposite has happened. Sitting in the midst of China’s manufacturing heartland, Guangzhou has long been a centre for trade with Africa.
  • Ethiopian Israelis Could Be Israel’s Best Ambassadors In Africa

    ISRAEL, 2016/06/28 Until recently, Israeli efforts in Africa have been notable but have not been deployed to scale. With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to visit four East African nations this summer, there is a golden opportunity for Israel to strengthen diplomatic, humanitarian and commercial ties with the continent. Only 3 % of Israeli trade today is with Africa.
  • Kenyan Entrepreneur Cooks Up Successful Spices Business

    KENYA, 2016/06/28 With just about $48 and constant probing from her sister studying in the U.S., Kenyan entrepreneur Anzazi Kiti managed to start a successful spices business that generates about $1,600 in revenue per month and employs two people so far. In an interview with CNBC Africa, Kiti, who’s full time job is an accountant with audit firm Ernst & Young, said i 2014 she decided to start Taste Afrique, a company that produces natural spice mixes under the brand Chibundiro “that gives food that additional yumminess”.
  • Kenya's tea industry moves toward strategic diversification

    KENYA, 2016/06/19 Reducing a reliance on bulk black tea is a key objective for Kenya as it looks to boost revenue from one of its flagship agricultural sectors. Kenya is the world’s leading exporter of black tea, which accounts for 95% of the country’s in general tea production, making it one of its major agricultural exports. Tea exports generated earnings of KSh125.3bn ($1.23bn) in 2015, a 23% increase from the previous year. The jump in revenue was the result of higher prices due in large part to a weaker harvest, with 2015 crop yields at 399.2m kg, a 10% year-on-year decrease, according to data from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA). Prospects for 2016 are somewhat additional muted, with overseas tea sales predicted to generate between KSh115bn ($1.14bn) and KSh120bn ($1.19bn).