Efforts by UNCTAD and TradeMark East Africa to facilitate trade in East Africa are going from strength to strength. In fact, on 4 July the two organizations signed a US$3.1 million agreement for the second phase of a project aiming to ease trade in the region. The first phase of the project was applied between 2016 and 2018 with a budget of $3.4 million.
The project’s second phase will be implemented over four years, while the while project will build on the institutional governance set by the trade facilitation sub-committee of the East African Community (EAC) and national trade facilitation committees (TFCs) in each partner state. The partner states in the project are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
This phase of the project is expected to expand the role and capacity of the NTFCs as coordinating entities of trade facilitation reforms and help them focus on making cross-border trade procedures simpler.
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The project is designed to build the capacity of NTFCs to create andsustainably manage enquiry points that offer information and assistance to traders. It is also expected to improve the transparency of trade procedures through trade information portals and enhance the capacity of the EAC trade facilitation sub-committee to lead national and regional trade initiatives.
In the first phase of the project, four national trade information portals were built in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, along with a regional trade portal. Moreover, Burundi’s trade portal is being completed.
What is more, over 200 members of the NTFCs, including 90 women, were trained in the formulation of action plans and project proposals to ensure funding for trade facilitation.
The first phase of the collaboration between UNCTAD and TMEA also led to the publication of a comprehensive comparative analysis of the gender implications of regional integration and trade policy in the EAC member states.
The report used gender-disaggregated and comparable data to show an analysis of gender inequalities, institutional and legal frameworks on gender equality and their effects on trade performance in the area and women’s participation in international trade.
The two organizations also established an advocacy strategy based on evidence gained through research activities and provided policymakers and civil society with guidance on how to develop gender-sensitive trade policies in the region.