Rwanda’s High Commission in Tanzania and the East African Business Council (EABC) and other stakeholders on Tuesday, May 24, organised a roundtable with regional business executives in Dar es Salaam in preparation for the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) slated for June 21 to 26, in Kigali.

The nearly three-hour breakfast session with about 100 CEOs "was a very excellent event” encouraging the regional business community to participate in CHOGM in a big number and also take advantage of opportunities provided by the Commonwealth, John Bosco Kalisa, CEO of the EABC, told The New Times after the meeting.

He added: "The major outcome is the commitment of the CEOs to participate in the event and share insights and knowledge on the doing business in the region as well as at continental level taking advantages of the EAC Customs Union and Common Market [protocols] as well as the AfCTA. And building synergies and partnerships in areas of trade, technology, energy, environment as well as regional and continental value chains.”

The EAC is negotiating AfCFTA as a bloc and, the latter on February 18 made a huge step forward by adopting the bloc’s tariff offer for Category A products amounting to 90.2 per cent to be liberalised in 10 years after the start of trading under the continental trade deal. 

"The EAC business community is looking forward for proactive engagement and signig off important business deals with developed and emerging markets,” Kalisa said.

More than 300 regional business leaders are set to attend the Commonwealth Business Forum, one of the major side events during CHOGM. 

The first CHOGM to be held in Africa for more than 10 years is expected to bring more than 8, 000 guests, including leaders from more than 54 countries, to Kigali. They will include top business executives, officials from private equity funds, investment banks, and others. The leaders’ summit, will be preceded by meetings for representatives from Commonwealth networks for youth, women, civil society and business.

The EABC, Kalisa noted, is committed to mobilize businesses in  the region to market the it as the most attractive destination for investment and hub for trade in Africa during the Commonwealth Business Forum in Kigali.

Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Maj Gen Charles Karamba, told The New Times that "the key thing we wanted” was to engage the Tanzanian leadership and CEOs to get to know opportunities that will be available in Kigali during the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF).

He said: "As neighbours, Tanzania is an important business partner that needs to have their CEOs attending.”

During the roundtable in Dar, Karamba also delivered a speech in which he, among others, noted that the CBF will feature relevant and engaging sessions such as Commonwealth Trade: Challenging Protectionisms and Reducing the Barriers to Business; Positioning the Commonwealth for the Future of Work; the Business of Sustainable Fashion; the Innovation Avenue Mixer; issues of Climate change, "all  aimed at influencing tangible policy outcomes towards a more resilient, sustainable and equitable Commonwealth in a post-Covid era.”

"The organizers have designed the CBF 2022 Programme in such a way that will provide opportunity to create meaningful connections, knowledge exchange, contribute to impactful dialogue and get the desired information,” Karamba said.

"But needless to emphasize is the fact that Rwanda and Tanzania share a lot in common especially in terms of doing business; trade and transport facilitation and collaborations; geographical positioning as we are immediate neighbors and both of us are members of the East African Community but the Commonwealth family also brings us together.” 

Karamba stressed that it is therefore important that members from the Tanzania business fraternity especially the CEOs roundtable take part in this very important forum "so as to enhance collaboration linkages with your Rwandan counterparts” but also share experience with business players from elsewhere and discover new markets and opportunities across the Commonwealth. 

Louise Kanyonga, Chief Strategist at the Rwanda Development Board urged business leaders to convene in Kigali and chart out uniform standards to promote efficiency in international trade between commonwealth nations, craft a common agenda on carbon finance and strengthen the collaboration with International Finance Centres.

As noted, this year’s Commonwealth Business Forum will perhaps be the first and largest in-person gathering for governments and business across the globe since the eruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

It will be hosted by the the government of Rwanda in partnership with Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC). It will bring together more than 1,000 participants including Heads of Government attending CHOGM, business leaders, policy makers, the youth and global thought leaders. 

Opportuneities provided by the Commonwealth Business Forum

During the meeting in Dar, Kalisa took time to highlight some of the opportunities provided by the Commonwealth Business Forum.

First, he said, the Commonwealth enables its members to take advantage of economic growth, enhance trade and manage debt, while advocating for a fair and inclusive financial system and promoting social development including youth and women empowerment.

Commonwealth countries boasts a total population of 2.61 billion (33% of global population), he noted, adding that "this is a huge consumer base.”

The combined gross domestic product of Commonwealth member countries is estimated at around $14 trillion, Kalisa said.

"Trade between Commonwealth members (intra-Commonwealth trade in goods and services) is estimated at more than $680 billion and projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2025,” he said.

He added: "Commonwealth members’ combined exports of goods and services are valued at $3.4 trillion, which constitute about 15 per cent of the world’s total exports.”

Intra-Commonwealth flows of remittances are estimated at $45 billion, of which $42 billion went to developing countries.

"Based on the above data set belonging to Commonwealth Nations provides enormous opportunities to exploit economies of scale as well benefiting from technological innovations,” Kalisa said.

"Looking at the recent report on the Global innovation index, the most innovative economies in Sub-Saharan Africa are Commonwealth member countries (eight out of the top ten).”

In addition, he noted, 25 Commonwealth countries have high or very high human development indicators, according to the inequality-adjusted Human Development Index. Five of the best performing 15 countries in the Youth Development Index Are Commonwealth members.

Kalisa also noted that Eight of the top 10 most innovative economies in Sub-Saharan Africa are Commonwealth countries. These are Mauritius, South Africa, Seychelles, Botswana, Kenya, United Republic of Tanzania,  Malawi, Rwanda and Mozambique.

Kenya and Tanzania are among developing economies that have performed above expectations on innovations relative to their economic development, the index showed.