Opportunities for East Africa Markets

Article by Dinfin Mulupi

Representatives from over 200 firms from both East Africa and Europe will meet at the ‘Opportunities East Africa London Expo’ to be held on 11 and 12 November 2010

Entrepreneurs from the East Africa region will be travelling to Europe next month to meet top European entrepreneurs at an exhibition. The expo is a major UK business event that offers a platform for businesses to create trade links between the two continents.

The entrepreneurs drawn from the five East Africa Community (EAC) member states (Kenya, Uganda,Tanzania , Burundi and Rwanda) seek to open their businesses to market opportunities in Europe .The event will be an opportunity for these entrepreneurs to connect and interact with foreign investors who might be interested in investing in the region.

The event follows the launch of the EAC Common Market Protocol on 1 July 2010 which has sparked increased investor interest in the region.

This is because the Common Market Protocol presents business opportunities in the free movement of goods, people, labour and capital from fellow member states. It also holds business incentives in the lower tariff rates for imports from fellow EAC countries.

Foreign investors seeking to invest in the region now have access to a market and manpower pool of  a population of over 130 million people.

East Africa investors will also be looking for market opportunities in Europe. One of the booming sectors in the region is agriculture through the export of tea, coffee and horticultural products to European markets. Other influential sectors include mobile telephone technology, mining and mineral processing, tourism and manufacturing.

During the exhibition, the EAC team will take part in seminars and workshops, exhibit their products and interact with their counterparts from Europe.