Business community to interest Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Kenya to jointly market EAC in Canada next month at the EAC Diaspora meetings

The recent Kigali Commonwealth International Business Forum, according to the members of the business community in Uganda that was in attendance, met expectations.

"It was successful first of all because we (business community) were able to network and networking is a key aspect for doing business. We also managed to showcase the investment potential of the region,” Issa Mukasa, a Director in the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), told The New Times.

Mukasa added, "These days we are no longer talking as individual countries but as a region. When we talk as a region we become more attractive to investors because as a region we form a bigger market.”

He also revealed that he had agreed with the ministers of trade from Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Kenya to jointly market the EAC in Canada at the EAC Diaspora meetings that will take place on December 16-21 in the cities of Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa. 

"I have always supported regional integration because it will remove trade barriers. The more we harmonise as a region, the more we shall access markets. In the past, I missed an opportunity to export coffee because I couldn’t compete with Nescafe which was operating within a Free Trade Area within COMESA,” said Ishak Lukenge, the Director of Kampala Domestic Store Limited, a company that deals in coffee buying and processing.

"As somebody from a Small and Medium Enterprise, I benefited a lot from the forum because I managed to network and got contacts from within the Commonwealth Business Council. I got three business partners that would like to co –invest with me,”said Mulindwa Birimumaso, the Managing Director of Pearl Gardens Beach on Ssese Islands, Uganda, who was also in attendance at the business forum.

The tourism sector was mentioned as an area where the region has a comparative advantage. East Africa has a good climate, green vegetation and natural landscape and a wide range of organic foods.

"Our tourism sector is attractive because it’s still natural. It is possible to see animals in their natural habitats unlike in most other parts of the world today where animals are tamed and kept in zoos for tourists,” UIA’s Mukasa.

He, however, underlined the poor infrastructure in the region that needs immediate intervention to boost its (region) competitiveness.

"Infrastructure is still a big problem in the region. For instance, some people who were traveling to Rwanda had to first go through Nairobi to Bujumbura then to Rwanda because there is no interconnectivity. The region urgently needs a connected network of infrastructure to facilitate business,” Mukasa observed.

The Commonwealth forum that was organised by the Commonwealth Business Council in collaboration with the East African Business Council and the government, brought together a cross section of government leaders from East Africa, international and local business executives and heads of financial institutions.

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