Posted in Press Release
The Kampala Resolutions on Manufacturing
- The 1st Manufacturing Business Summit was held in Kampala, Uganda at Speke Resort, Munyonyo on 1-2 September 2015. The Business Summit was officially opened by Rt Hon. Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda.
- The Summit was attended by H.E. Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General; Amb. Richard Sezibera, EAC Secretary-General; Hon. Amelia Kyambadde, the Minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Uganda; Hon. Adan Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Industrialisation and Enterprise Development, Kenya; Hon. Tabu Abdallah Manirakiza, Minister for Finance, Burundi; Hon. Adam Kighoma Ali Malima, Assistant Minister for Finance, United Republic of Tanzania, Dr Joseph Mungarulire, representing the Minister for Trade and Industry, Rwanda; Mr Dennis Karera, East Africa Business Council (EABC) Chairman; and, Amos Nzeyi, UMA Chairman. The Summit was also attended by representatives from development partners and regional economic communities including: United Nations Industrial Development Organization, African Development Bank, Commonwealth Business Council, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Minerals Development Centre, World Bank, TradeMark East Africa, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and South African Development Community.
- The 1st Manufacturing Business Summit was jointly organised by East African Community Secretariat and EABC, and hosted by the Government of Uganda. The forum ushered in a new dawn in the history of manufacturing in East Africa region as it brought together for the first time all shareholders in manufacturing under one roof to discuss the question of manufacturing and its role in deepening the integration.
- The forum made the following resolutions on this date of 2nd September 2015:
- To effectively utilise the available resources within the region for structural transformation of the manufacturing sector in key value chains, a regional special purpose vehicle that facilitates joint investment in capital intensive and flagship projects should be established (lessons can be drawn from Maputo Development Corridor, or Air-bus Project in the European Union). The framework should outline each countries comparative and competitive strengths in resources and inputs, and how EAC countries can collaborate and develop such strategic industries to avoid harmful competition and trade frictions.
- Public and private procurement is key to creating necessary demand for locally manufactured products as well as promoting technology-based business start-ups. To this end, the governments of East Africa Partner States and the private sector are called upon to prioritise in their procurement, the sourcing of locally manufactured products including agro-food, furniture, motor-vehicles, parts, apparel and footwear. The EAC Secretariat in collaboration with EABC should prepare a regional promotional strategy for the implementation of Buy East Africa, Build East Africa scheme.
- For the purposes of resolution No. 2, the EAC should formulate a regional Local Content policy, which clearly defines ‘local’ on a regional context to ensure that preferential treatment accorded to nationals are extended to all suppliers within the East Africa region.
- The EAC to formulate a regional policy for motor vehicles, textiles & apparel, and leather & footwear to create a coherent policy regime for the development of these sectors, which are crucial for employment creation, poverty reduction and advancement in technological capability.
- Acquiring appropriate skills suited to the needs of industry remains a major challenge contributing to youth unemployment. EAC in collaboration with EABC to a formulate a regional skill development and partnership programme targeting mainstreaming of apprenticeship, internship and graduate on-job training in school, technical and vocational education and training, and university curriculum.
- Energy (power) is a vital input into manufacturing constituting between 20-50 percent of the cost of production. The East Africa Partner States are called upon to take measures to reduce the cost of power to through: reforms in the energy / power sector to reduce power loss, permitting industries to generate their own power and supply excess to the national grid, and introducing energy efficiency and conservation measures in industries. To this end, EAC and EABC should organise a regional conference on “Competitive Energy Supply for sustainable Growth of Manufacturing in East Africa” to facilitate a consultative dialogue with all relevant stakeholders on measures to be adopted to enhance energy access and reduce power tariff for the manufacturing sector.
- The emerging industrialising countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) present EAC with immense opportunities for trade and industrial co-operation. The EAC should formulate a regional strategy for engagement with BRICS, with a view to leveraging and attracting Chinese investors, and positioning the region as ideal location for investors who have relocated from China due to rising labour costs.
- The EAC to enact a Community Law on anti-counterfeits and illicit trade and put in place an effective enforcement mechanism in order to deter imports, production, sales, and distribution of counterfeit and illicit goods in the East Africa market.
- The 2nd Manufacturing Business Summit to be held in September 2017, in Nairobi, Kenya at a date to be communicated. The EAC and EABC calls upon development partners and EAC Partner States to support convening of the 2nd Manufacturing Business Summit.
ADOPTED THIS DAY OF 2ND SEPTEMBER 2015 AT SPEKE RESORT, MUNYONYO IN KAMPALA, UGANDA
Posted in Press Release
The President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has said that Africa and many developing countries face the challenge of high and growing youth unemployment, which if not addressed can potentially be a source of instability as has been the case in North Africa.
The President, who was this afternoon officiating at the official opening of the 1st East African Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition 2015 (EAMBS’15) at the Speke Resort, Munyonyo in Kampala, Uganda said many African youth had lost lives as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea in search of employment opportunities in Europe.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, President Museveni said “this is a painful lesson and we as leaders must think of a collective regional strategy to respond to unemployment including expanding the manufacturing sector capacity, promoting micro, small and medium enterprises and youth entrepreneurs.
President Museveni urged the private sector to invest sufficient funds in research, technology and innovation and called on both the public and private sectors to come up with a regional research, technology and innovation network to serve as a vehicle for fostering collaborative research and transfer of technology into the sector.
The President noted that EAC Partner States were giving high priority to the development of infrastructure and energy, which were critical for efficient operations of the manufacturing sector in particular, and facilitating business and cross-border investment. He said the regional target was to eliminate electricity supply deficits and achieve full interconnectivity of the region by 2017, making it (EAC) attractive for investment in heavy industries such as steel mills, petrochemicals, paper, cement etc.
“East Africa is on its way to become a regional hub for manufacturing and a gateway to investing in Africa”, said the President.
Uganda’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde hailed the EAC Secretariat, East African Business Council and the private sector for initiating the Manufacturing Business Summit. She said the Summit creates a relevant regional platform for building partnerships for growth of cross-border businesses and also facilitate advocacy on the need to improve business environment for a competitive manufacturing sector.
Uganda’s Minister urged the private sector in the region to bring on board the youth as part of the aggressive apprenticeships, internships and other skills development programmes. She also urged the region not to forget Political Federation as the ultimate goal of the East African Community, as well as peace and stability, which will be able to consolidate the gains that are were being made in the regional integration process.
The Secretary-General of the EAC, Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera urged Partner States’ governments to take some tough decisions so as to turn the region into one viable economic entity by eliminating all barriers to the factors of production in the bloc; active involvement and commitment to industrialisation; and, financing of technology transfer and innovation.
“Governments in the region should also be bold enough to undertake investments in those areas where the private sector are afraid to venture into, as well as use of public preferential treatment to support locally manufactured goods, and the labour mobility by freeing labour market in the region”, said the Secretary General.
Amb. Sezibera said improving the business environment was critical, adding that the recent Kenya-Uganda sugar saga was the most unfortunate thing in the recent years of the integration process.
“Sugar produced in Uganda or in any of the Partner States is EAC sugar, there is no such a thing like Burundi avocado, Rwanda pineapple, Tanzania Rice, Kenya beef or Uganda sugar. These are all products produced within the EAC and are bound by the EAC Customs Union and Common Market protocols”, said Dr Sezibera.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, called for sustainable investment in an integrated manner in the region and noted that EAC was the gateway for Africa. Dr Kituyi said the region needs to model itself to the realities of the market, otherwise it will be left behind on the global market.
The Chair of the East African Business Council, Mr Dennis Karera, called for fast-tracking the harmonisation of domestic taxes, work permits and residence regimes within the bloc in order to improve on the business environment.
“In addition, governments need to improve road networks, do away with non-tariff barriers, and use the procurement system to promote local industries by providing opportunities for local sourcing so as to enhance the business environment and make the region competitive”, said Karera.
The Chief Executive Officer of Bidco Africa, Mr Vimal Shah said this was an exciting moment for region and EAC Partner States should start thinking of removing all the borders in readiness for rapid transformational change.
The two-day summit is running under the theme “Unleashing the Manufacturing Potential for Accelerated Development and Employment Creation in East Africa”.