The 1st COMESA Business Council SME Associations Workshop ends successfully in Cairo, Egypt- “Towards advocacy on Constraints to SMEs in the region” covering 19 countries

During the 1st CBC SME Associations Workshop held on 23- 24 April, 2013 in Cairo, Egypt, the National SME Associations and Stakeholders from the COMESA Region met and deliberated on key issues affecting the SME Sector in the region. The discussions led to Common Regional Positions by 12 out 19 SME Associations representing the Region. The positions will be presented through the COMESA Business Council to the various policy organs as recommendations to improve the business environment of SMEs in COMESA. The meeting brought together key private sector representative bodies and stakeholders of the SMEs in the region, to deliberate on key issues that have been raised during the 8th COMESA Business Forum, held last year in Kampala, Uganda, that are to feed into a proposed regional policy strategy framework for SMEs in COMESA. During the two day event, issues such as financial accessibility, preferential treatment to SMEs in public procurement, capacity building, productivity and standardization of products, encouraging indigenous trade, and branding of COMESA products, were deliberated on. The meeting concluded with a common position from the SME Community which was presented at the High Level 8th Pan African Congress for Women Entrepreneurs and SMEs, which was officially opened by Her Excellency, Dr. Zuma, the First Lady of South Africa and Chairperson of the African Union Commission in the presence of SME stakeholders from both the public and Private Sector, Ministers, respective governments and industry from over 20 countries, It is in this spirit that the SME Sector stakeholders have pledged to ensure further advocacy at the national and regional level. During the Congress, Mr. Richard Muteti from Kenya presented the SME Handbook to Dr. Amany Asfour, the President of Women Entrepreneurs of Africa and Vice Chair of the COMESA Business Council The above meeting was followed by a ballot voting process where Mr. Richard N. Muteti from the MSE Sector in Kenya was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the COMESA SMEs advocacy workgroup while Madam Penny C. Belmont the CEO of Seychelles Small Enterprise Promotion Agency was elected as the Vice Chairperson.

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1st, COMESA Business Council SME Associations Consultative Workshop-Cairo, Egypt 22nd to 24th April 2013

the 1st, COMESA Business Council SME Associations Consultative Workshop- theme- “ Towards Advocacy on Constraints to SMEs in the region “ will be held alongside the 8th African Congress for SMEs and Women Entrepreneurs and International Trade Fair, “ Economic Empowerment and support of MSMEs to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) And the Post 2015 Development Agenda”, the meeting is aimed at opening a regional platform of advocacy on SME constraints in terms of facilitating common positions that can be inputted into various policy organ meetings as the voice of the SMEs in the region. In this regard, the 1st CBC consultative workshop for SME Associations is to be held in Cairo, Egypt from the 22nd – 24th April, 2013. The meeting will also review a policy strategic framework to accelerate competitiveness of SMEs in the region, and also discuss the industry’s need to form a regional SME Association in the region EBWA is sponsoring one free booth per SME Association, to promote the products of the Industry at a Pan African Level

A MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISE AUTHORITY IS ESTABLISHED IN KENYA.

The government of Kenya has established the Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSE Auhority) that is aimed at mainstreaming the small businesses in Kenya. The creation of the Authority comes after more than 12 years of intense advocacy and Lobbying by various stakeholders led by Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and the Micro and Small Enterprises Business member organizations in Kenya. Mr. Patrick Mwangi was appointed the acting CEO to the Authority whose mandate is to oversee the implementation of the Micro and Small Enterprises Act which became law in January 2013. Among the members of the Board of the Authority is Mr. Richard N. Muteti. Mr. Muteti serves the Micro and Small Enterprises sector in various capacities both within Kenya and the East African Community in general. Mr. Muteti is the Chief Executive officer of the Kenya National Federation of Jua Kali Associations (KNFJA), an umbrella association of primary small businesses associations across the country. Mr. Muteti is also founder and Director of the Small and Medium Enterprise Support, East Africa (SMES-EA) an institution that works in partnership with individual and small business membership associations in Kenya and the East African region to facilitate their access to critical inputs needed for their development. In 2008, he was Appointed the Regional Project Manager for the East Africa Community (EAC) Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi Exhibitions, an initiative of the five East African Partner States (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) which has been carrying out marketing initiatives for the MSE sector products and services through regional exhibitions that bring together small business owners from the five countries on an annual rotational basis. He sits as a member of the Presidential Private Sector Working Forum in Kenya. Mr. Richard Muteti received a Head of State Commendation (HSC) Awarded by His Excellency the President of the republic of Kenya for distinguished service to the society on 12th December 2009 Mr. Muteti joins as a member of the Board in the MSE Authority because of his vast practical experiences in the MSE Sector.

Private Sector Leaders Meet the President Elect in Kenya

On March 13th 2013, the president-elect of Kenya, Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy requested to meet the private sector leaders under the flagship of KEPSA. The meetings aim was to introduce the office of the president-elect and highlight what they have envisioned for businesses. The overarching discussion was how to improve the public-private partnership working mechanism that has been in existence and how to make sure that the economy attains its GDP growth of 10% from the current 4.5%. KEPSA took the opportunity to present NBA 2 which is the agenda for business after a successful engagement with Government on NBA 1 for the last 5 years. Carole Kariuki, KEPSA CEO begun by introducing the KEPSA officials who represent the various sectors of the economy. She also asked the president-elect and his deputy to continue engaging with KEPSA as they have done in the past during their different designations in cabinet positions. She highlighted the need to continue the engagement they had started under the Public Private Dialogue (PPD) structure. She noted that this engagement will enhance an enabling business environment for the next 5 years.

EABC TO HOST A REGIONAL PRIVATE SECTOR CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON SERVICES INTEGRATION IN THE EAC

EABC TO HOST A REGIONAL PRIVATE SECTOR CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON SERVICES INTEGRATION IN THE EAC 20TH-22ND MARCH 2013, DAR ES SALAAM TANZANIA In furtherance of their mission to promote a competitive East African Community (EAC) private sector through addressing factors that impede the flow of goods and services, East African Business Council (EABC) supported by the African Capacity Building Foundation, the International Trade Centre (ITC), TradeMark East Africa (TMEA), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the International Lawyers and Economists Against Poverty (ILEAP), will host Regional Private Sector Consultative Meeting on Services Integration in the EAC on 20th - 22nd March 2013, Dar es salaam Tanzania. The main objective of the consultative meeting is to bring together regional stakeholders from the private to discuss and develop a regional sector position on the issue of services integration under the EAC Common Market. Specifically, the meeting aims: a. To sensitize the private sector on the movement of services under the common market protocol; b. To equip participants with information and ideas to help the private sector as a whole make its case for liberalization of Mode 4 in a way that will help ease trade between EAC Partner states and improve the competitiveness of private sector service suppliers; c. To enhance the capacity of the participants to lobby Policy makers to undertake and implement commitments that will be commercially meaningful for the EAC Private Sector; and d. To discuss and build consensus on the issues of concern and agree on the way forward The meeting will bring together around 80 participants from Private Sector firms and associations active in the area of trade in services, select researchers & practitioners on trade in services, representatives from the EAC Secretariat, development partners and other relevant stakeholders.

Regional Private Sector Consultative Meeting on Services Integration in the EAC

EABC supported by its partners, the Africa Capacity building foundation, the Internationa Trade Centre, TradeMark East African and Interntation Lawyers and Economists Against Poveryt, is orgnizing this meeting between 20th – 22nd March 2013 in Dar es Salaam to identify private sector priorities in this debate to ensure that their views considered and adequately addressed by EAC policy makers. BACKGROUND In line with Articles 5 and 76 of the Treaty of the East African Community (EAC), Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda negotiated a Common Market Protocol (CMP) which came into force on 1st July 2010. Under the CMP, EAC Partner States have committed to progressively liberalize trade in services in accordance with the negotiated commitments made under Annex V of the Protocol. To date, Partner States have made liberalization commitments in 7 services sectors, namely: business services; distribution services; educational services; financial services; communication services; tourism and travel related services; and transport services. Additional commitments are to be undertaken in successive rounds of negotiations. Services liberalization presents many opportunities for the economic development in the EAC, since the services sector is the cornerstone of all other economic activities. For instance: Transport, communications, distribution, energy related services, construction, water supply, sanitation and sewerage services provide the basic economic infrastructure; Banking, insurance and financial markets cater for the financial infrastructure of the economy; Advertising, marketing, computer services and professional services deliver business support; and Education, health and social services are the fabric of social infrastructure. As key inputs to all other sectors of the economy with direct contribution to employment and investment, services constitute the most dynamic sector, offering substantial growth potential to Partner States’ economies. In the EAC, services contribute a significant and growing portion of the gross domestic product, averaging around 50%. OBJECTIVE The main objective of the meeting is to help private sector participants understand the issues concerning services under the Common Market Protocol and form a view on whether the regime is sufficient to remove impediments to trade in services. Specifically, a. To sensitize the private sector on the movement of services under the common market protocol; b. To equip participants with information and ideas to help the private sector as a whole make its case for liberalization of Mode 4 in a way that will help ease trade between EAC Partner states and improve the competitiveness of private sector service suppliers; c. To enhance the capacity of the participants to lobby Policy makers to undertake and implement commitments that will be commercially meaningful for the EAC Private Sector; and d. To discuss and build consensus on the issues of concern agree on the way forward PARTICIPATION AND ORGANIZATION The meeting will be a three day event, which will be held in March 2013 in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. The event will bring together 80 participants from private sector firms and associations active in the area of trade in services, EAC Partner State experts and officials,