Trade in Africa Larger Than Official Statistics Show – Africa Business Round Up

Mr Carlos Lopes, the former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa has said that because of the informal trade that is not captured in official statistics, trade within Africa is seen to be low yet in actual sense it is much higher than the 23 percent current estimates.

Africa is not trading with Africa ! Do you see an Opportunity to Improve or do you see No Hope?
Depends on the lenses you wear! pic.twitter.com/792uvJ2Wrz

— Vimal Shah CBS (@vimalafrica) December 2, 2016

“There is a lot of informal trade among African countries that is not captured by customs officials. If this is included in the trading statistics, then the trade is actually much higher. If you talk to customs officials, they will tell you how challenging the informal trade is to capture in official statistics,” Mr Lopes said during the opening plenary session of the Africa Business and Investment Forum in Algeria. Read: 

Africa looks to boost growth and jobs with free-trade area

The African Export-Import Bank estimates that intra-African trade will be worth $180bn this year, of which about 40 per cent is informal.

It hopes to boost this by a third by 2021.  But this year’s figure is only 19 per cent of the continent’s $930bn total trade, the bank says, compared with more than 60 per cent for the EU. It attributes the paltry figure to low industrialisation levels, restricted movement of labour, poor infrastructure and a high dependence on exporting unprocessed commodities in many countries. Read:

How SMEs can Build Resilience from Disruption

Doing business in Africa for SMEs in is becoming harder than before as the various governments offer little support or protection, globalization bringing competitors to our doorstep, rapid change in technology among many other reasons. It is a fact that technology is playing a big factor in disrupting many business sectors. Companies such as Safaricom disrupting Kenya’s financial sector, Uber disrupting traditional transport business models are just a few examples. Many entrepreneurs and SME in Africa lack the right skills and operating structure to adapt to the fluid business environment.

To build resilience against disruption, SME will have to inculcate Information Technology not as department or project but as part of its strategic plan and adopt a digital business model. The digital model encompasses; empowerment, collaboration, data, experimentation and speed. Read:

Public transport development driven by lowest cost, not value, says ITSSA

South Africa’s transport procurement system is often driven by cost, rather than value, says Intelligent Transport Society of South Africa (ITSSA) CEO Dr Paul Vorster.

“We tend to look for the lowest-cost supplier of services and equipment and not always the best value. The problem with this is that the lowest-cost solution may not necessarily be the best solution. It may take longer to implement and it may be less effective – this is especially true in terms of transport solutions, which require a high level of integration with other, existing systems. Read: 

Who cares for East Africa’s road travelers?

Transportation is at the center of successful regional integration. It is the glue of our daily lives so when it goes wrong, it negatively colors your day, makes you feel angry, impotent and curtails all possibilities; for the record, that is Zipcar CEO Robin Chase that I’ve just plagiarized.

So I am here wondering whether anyone cares about East Africa’s road transport users especially considering that to most East African traders, flying in the comfort of Kalisimbi’s warm and comfortable belly will always be a pipedream, for obvious reasons of affordability. Read 

Uber in Africa: How Kenya’s ‘boda-boda’ bikers are taking on the world’s biggest taxi firm

East Africa is witnessing a boom in Uber-style apps for motorcycle taxis (locally known as boda-bodas), which promise to be significantly cheaper than Uber rides and much more convenient. Never-ending traffic jams are a fact of life in capitals like Kampala or Nairobi; last year hundreds of Kenyans got stuck for 19 hours after Nairobi’s roads turned into a parking lot. During hellish rush hour, moto-taxis are the fastest way to get around. Read: