They came to the Kenyan capital Nairobi, in number and only one in the head, the East Africa region as a single trading bloc in a manner to promote a strong economy and competitive environment for businesses to market. The EAC Secretariat, the platform offers by the 2nd EAC Investment Conference, is what in the next few years that will determine the success of the conference.
Reports from the investment promotion agencies in the region show that the following 1. Investment Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, a significant number of requests, project proposals and actual investments have been recorded from the conference.
Against the backdrop of a global recession hero who rode the Nairobi conference on the topic "Investing in education and culture, where challenges are opportunities." Kenya Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta an overview of the theme of the conference said it was well chosen in view of the challenges arising from globalHave resulted> economic and financial crisis, drought and climate change, high energy costs for the region and reduced economic growth.
Although the negative trend in the global economy have, the East African countries, small, but was above par economic growth for the year 2009, apart from Kenya, the internal shocks experienced at the beginning of last year. Two quarterly financial review by AIG investment fund management indicates that Uganda Economyincreased by 7 percent last year and is expected to decline 6 percent in 2009/10. The Tanzanian government GDP growth for 2009 at 5 per cent down from 7.4 percent last year.
After recording an impressive performance in 2007 to contribute 7.1 percent GDP growth, Kenya's growth fell last year to a dismal 1.7 per cent as a result of post-election violence, disruption of the food supply chain and the global recession. It is expected that Kenya's GDP will grow by 2.5 percent this year asEffects of post-election violence pales in the previous year.
Uhuru added that was expected after the robust growth in recent years, the economies of Uganda and Tanzania that only 5 percent in 2009 to grow, while Kenya would be an even lower rate of 3 percent registered. "But the pace of growth could be achieved by investment and expenditure in infrastructure and agriculture sectors should be noted that rather large incentive for the growth of regional economy."
TimeKey-note speech at the official opening, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said that the insistence of economists that the economic crisis would not significantly affect Africa because the continent's institutions to be integrated fully into the global financial alarm bells in African countries sound.
"Not as part of the global economy is in a crisis. EAC should be part of a global position system, and not their victims and activelead in finding solutions that leverage the region, skills and experience, innovate and meet high and rising targets. "
And as the Kenyan finance minister put it, are the secret of success, and regions with investment expenditures in infrastructure and agriculture. However, some of these areas that are have proven to be difficult, the governments to provide abundantly for their citizens. Nature has done no good either, with some members of the region to drought. Referring to theAIG Investment quarter two report points out that in Kenya, agriculture, which accounts for 23 percent of GDP fell by 5.1 percent over the same period last year.
The Conference noted that, although agriculture remains to be the backbone of the economy in the region and contributes largely to the employment and exports, EAC regional food insecure, despite the availability of sufficient arable land and a large labor force.
In line with the theme of the conference, the participantsnoted that opportunities through the development of value chains in agriculture were available along with added value and diversification of production. It is important for countries to invest in value added processes for all agricultural exports in order to improve the quality, gain competitive advantage and generate more revenues from sales and competitiveness. Uganda will from next year, the first country in Africa to its own brand of coffee they sell on the international market asthe finished product.
Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki urged to increase alleviate East African farmers and investors, the investments in the agricultural sector with several years of food shortages in the region to. Zanzibar President Abeid Karume Dr also emphasized the need to increase investment in agriculture by strengthening the agricultural technology and infrastructure to increase. The infrastructure is also one of the challenges for agriculture. Development of the "last mile"Infrastructure was seen as a way of improving the provision of inputs to the actual users and catalyze the production.
Governments in the region through the development partners should be encouraged to mobilize sufficient resources to rapidly develop a pipeline of bankable infrastructure projects, particularly targeted regional roads, railways and energy sub-sectors. Dr. Enos Bukuku, 1 Deputy Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, said that the country does not reduce toInfrastructure budgets in difficult times. The same sentiments are by Prof. Maggie Kigozi, Executive Director of Uganda Investment Authority, which says the country are working to improve the infrastructure to make use of the private sector to effectively during and after the common recession.
The issue of licenses for regional infrastructure service providers should work within the provisions of the Common Market Protocol was added to ensure that education and cultural benefits fromCapacity in the region for the expansion and access to infrastructure.
The ongoing harmonization of policies in the infrastructure sub-sectors should be fast tracked, and the governments of the implementation of harmonized policies is ensured at the national level, accelerated. Moving with the global trends and the promotion of the economic food, the participants were in agreement that the region should invest in alternative forms of energy, since each of the Member States had accordinglytheir own share of power problems. Depending on hydropower generation, which is contributing to power shortages experienced in the region. Although all the EAC Partner States are committed to the diversification of generation from hydropower, hydropower generation mix remains an important resource in the generation of the region.
Rwanda's Minister of Energy Dr. Albert Butale said the region's potential of renewable energies such as wind, geothermal and natural gas have been hardly used."It is time for investors looked beyond the traditional sources of energy." Marketing the region as one market, however, should affect this trade that have ongoing activities. As the whole world struggling with the economic crisis, most countries in the West cut down on imports in order to drastically reduce the revenue from African countries that come from exports.
The East Africa Trade Report 2008 shows that a total inflows to the EACRegion fell sharply by 11.8 percent from U.S. $ 8,021.9 million recorded in 2006 to U.S. $ 7,118.5 million in 2007. In intra-EAC investment flows, Uganda and Tanzania benefited most with Kenya is the dominant player. On the other hand, drew Kenya minimal investment inflows recorded EAC Partner States in recent years, but virtually no inflows in 2006 and 2007.
Given these challenges, the EAC maintaining a strategic position in the direction of stronger ispolitical and economic business environments in order to weather the storm. The IMF predicted a 1.3 per cent decline in global economic activity in 2010, especially the economies of developed countries, while some of the EAC countries and a number of African countries are expected to grow between 5 percent and 7 percent. How to implement the five economies studied and attract investment, after review at the next conference, the investment in the next year.
Thenegotiate focus on energy, telecommunications, tourism and mining. Other areas have been deepened to the development of infrastructure, banking and financial services, manufacturing, agriculture and agro-processing. There was evidently a new confidence of international investors in East Africa as a business hub. In recent months, foreign companies have been streaming into the region. Banking and financial services, manufacturing and mining, and other policies, West African andAsian investors, in particular.
Currently, central banks in the region discussed a EAC monetary convergence and payments. If implemented, the region have a common currency and a current payment system. The new system will do with the "unusually high" transaction costs from the large number of banks and foreign exchange regime fees.
Observers say that East Africa could soon be an economic tiger in the continent, if the momentumRevitalizing the economy of the region is maintained. From the budget for the current financial year, it is obvious that EAC member states are determined to improve the business among them. The 2005 World Trade Organization assessment of trade blocs in Africa, says EAC is one of the most active on the continent. Then began the formulation of the strategic plan in Kigali, major infrastructure works. Among them are the EAC Road Network Project, the EAC Transport and Trade Facilitation Project, theMombasa, Dar es Salaam natural gas pipeline and the regional ICT support program. More than 1.7 billion U.S. dollars is expected to be spent on these projects.
To ease cross-border movement of goods, Uganda and Kenya have joined forces with the Chinese government to build a second railway line between Mombasa and Kampala. The construction is expected to begin in the last quarter of next year and will cost Kenya more than KShs3 billion ($ 37.5 million). Observers say, however, that it is necessaryfor the community to cushion from rising commodity prices and depreciation of currencies.
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