Newsletter COMESA BUSINESS COUNCIL Ben Bell Road, P.O. Box 30051 Lusaka, Zambia Tel: +260 1 229725/32 www.comesabusinesscouncil.org TRIPARTITE LOCAL SOURCING FOR PARTNERSHIPS MEETINGS The Tripartite Private Sector Platform convened the first Tripartite Local Sourcing for Partnership Workshop in Dar es Salaam Tanzania from 29 th – 31 st March 2017 its second in Antananarivo, Madagascar from 12 th -14 th July 2017 and it’s third from 26 th to 28 th July, 2017 in Johannesburg South Africa. The Tripartite Private Sector Platform consists of COMESA Business Council (CBC), East Africa Business Council(EABC) and Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCCI). The Local Sourcing for Partner- ships (LSP) project is supported by the Africa Development Bank under the AfDB Tripartite Capacity Building Pro- gramme. The goal of the training was to build inclusive growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in business process- es, establish job creation of SMEs and contribute to overall improvement of intra-trade development in the Tripar- tite region. It further promotes and fa- cilitates international market access of local products. The introduction of the project to the three countries has so far increased competitiveness of the SMEs in that more Business Linkages have been formed through the buyer suppli- er Meeting. The buyer supplier meeting takes place on the third day after the two day train- ing. During this meeting buyers and sup- pliers dialogue and outline their procurement procedures to the trained SMEs. The SMEs further showcase their products to potential buyers through the mini exhibition that takes place during the Buyer- Supplier Meeting. The project created a platform for SMEs to get linked to It has since created more busi- ness linkages. The project has also educat- ed the SME and Multinational Companies and the mutually beneficial results from sourcing locally. Since its inception the LSP Project has re- corded success stories in terms of establish- ing business partnerships. This is evinced through a number of MoUs have been signed between buyers and the trained SMEs through the buyer seller dialogues. In the next edition of the newsletter CBC will highlight the impact of the Tripartite LSP in the three countries. In Tanzania some of the important issues raised were that suppliers lacked product variety and must diversify in the supplies. The Maasai’s were also urged to partner with out growers so that they become more consistence with their supplies and in- crease consistence and volumes. Certifica- tion requirement from the buyer was an hindrance for SMEs to supply and access bigger markets. On 17 th March 2017, the COMESA Busi- ness Council (CBC) in collaboration with the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) convened for the Mauri- tius Business Dialogue under the theme, “Exploring the COMESA Market-Bringing Business to the Table”. The one day public-private Dialogue saw the coming together of key stakeholders from various private sectors as well as Government. The Dialogue addressed key issues in the business development in Mauritius such as movement of business persons in the region, Non-Tariff Barriers, multi sectoral public private sector engagement at national lev- el. It was during this dialogue that Mauri- tius confirmed that they will sign and ratify the tripartite FTA Agreement, in the spirit of promoting freer trade and cross border alliances within the larger Africa. The Dialogue provided an opportunity to re-introduce the CBC in Mauritius. During the meeting the COMESA Trade Facilita- tion Instruments were discussed. This was in an effort to increase understanding of the COMESA FTA Benefits. The dialogue created an important policy arena on increased awareness on the existence of the COMESA Business Council as the Key Private Sector Institution in the region. It was a hub of business opportunity and a number Busi- ness linkages and partnerships were es- tablished. MAURITIUS BUSINESS DIALOGUE
Transcript
Newsletter
COMESA BUSINESS COUNCILBen Bell Road, P.O. Box 30051Lusaka, ZambiaTel: +260 1 229725/32
www.comesabusinesscouncil.org
TRIPARTITE LOCAL SOURCING FORPARTNERSHIPS MEETINGS
The Tripartite Private Sector Platformconvened the first Tripartite LocalSourcing for Partnership Workshop inDar es Salaam Tanzania from 29th – 31st
March 2017 its second in Antananarivo,Madagascar from 12th -14th July 2017and it’s third from 26th to 28th July, 2017in Johannesburg South Africa.
The Tripartite Private Sector Platformconsists of COMESA Business Council(CBC), East Africa BusinessCouncil(EABC) and Association of SADCChambers of Commerce and Industry(ASCCI). The Local Sourcing for Partner-ships (LSP) project is supported by theAfrica Development Bank under theAfDB Tripartite Capacity Building Pro-gramme.
The goal of the training was to buildinclusive growth of small and mediumenterprises (SMEs) in business process-es, establish job creation of SMEs andcontribute to overall improvement ofintra-trade development in the Tripar-tite region. It further promotes and fa-cilitates international market access oflocal products. The introduction of theproject to the three countries has so farincreased competitiveness of the SMEsin that more Business Linkages havebeen formed through the buyer suppli-er Meeting.
The buyer supplier meeting takes placeon the third day after the two day train-ing. During this meeting buyers and sup-
pliers dialogue and outline theirprocurement procedures to the trainedSMEs. The SMEs further showcase theirproducts to potential buyers through themini exhibition that takes place during theBuyer- Supplier Meeting.
The project created a platform for SMEs toget linked to It has since created more busi-ness linkages. The project has also educat-ed the SME and Multinational Companiesand the mutually beneficial results fromsourcing locally.
Since its inception the LSP Project has re-corded success stories in terms of establish-ing business partnerships. This is evincedthrough a number of MoUs have beensigned between buyers and the trainedSMEs through the buyer seller dialogues. Inthe next edition of the newsletter CBC willhighlight the impact of the Tripartite LSP inthe three countries.
In Tanzania some of the important issuesraised were that suppliers lacked productvariety and must diversify in the supplies.The Maasai’s were also urged to partnerwith out growers so that they become moreconsistence with their supplies and in-crease consistence and volumes. Certifica-tion requirement from the buyer was anhindrance for SMEs to supply and accessbigger markets.
On 17th March 2017, the COMESA Busi-ness Council (CBC) in collaboration withthe Mauritius Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (MCCI) convened for the Mauri-tius Business Dialogue under the theme,“Exploring the COMESAMarket-Bringing Business to the Table”.
The one day public-private Dialogue sawthe coming together of key stakeholdersfrom various private sectors as well asGovernment. The Dialogue addressed keyissues in the business development inMauritius such as movement ofbusiness persons in the region,Non-Tariff Barriers, multi sectoral publicprivate sector engagement at national lev-el. It was during this dialogue that Mauri-tius confirmed that they will sign and ratifythe tripartite FTA Agreement, in the spiritof promoting freer trade and cross borderalliances within the larger Africa.
The Dialogue provided an opportunity tore-introduce the CBC in Mauritius. Duringthe meeting the COMESA Trade Facilita-tion Instruments were discussed. This wasin an effort to increaseunderstanding of the COMESA FTABenefits.
The dialogue created an importantpolicy arena on increased awareness onthe existence of the COMESA BusinessCouncil as the Key Private SectorInstitution in the region. It was a hub ofbusiness opportunity and a number Busi-ness linkages and partnerships were es-tablished.
MAURITIUS BUSINESS DIALOGUE
During the buyer seller dialogue in Mada-gascar, the buyers raised issues on quali-ty, branding as well as pricing. In terms ofsupply side, the SMEs called for a moretransparent procurement system, moreadvocacy at national level, open marketand encourage women to cluster and beable to meet the demand side.
The LSP South Africa was held in collabora-tion with Phyto Solutions South Africa,during the buyer seller meeting buyers en-couraged suppliers to be consistence withquality supplies. The trained SMEs furthercalled on buyers to be reconsider the pay-ment period and urged them to be buyingdirectly from them and not throughagents/middle men.
In the Malagasy Chapter of the LSP Train-ing workshop, the COMESA SecretaryGeneral Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya and theMalagasy Minister for Industry and Pri-vate sector Development Hon. NourdineChabani graced the event and visited thestands of SMEs that showcased theirproducts. The significant role that the pri-vate sector plays was highlighted by ourguest of honor.
In addition, the Secretary General andthe Hon. Minister presented recognitioncertificates to SMEs that had successfullyparticipated in the two day trainingworkshops.
TRIPARTITE LOCAL SOURCING FOR PARTNERSHIPS MEETINGS - Cont’
Stakeholders in the in the Agro-indus-try sector engaged in a two-day dia-logue to address issues affectingsustainability and growth in the Agroindustry sector. The meeting was heldin Nairobi Kenya from 18th to 19th May,2017. The dialogue was hosted underthe hospice of CBC in collaborationwith African Regional StandardsOrganization (ARSO), Pan AfricanQuality Infrastructure (PAQI) and(PTB). The dialogue sought come upwith common positions and strategiesthat can be structured into the policyprocesses that contribute to theimprovement of commodity supplychains.
The dialogue brought together morethan 80 participants from the regioncomposed of Agro Industry companies,Horticulture processing and producercompanies, Dairy companies,Corporates and SMEs within theagriculture sector, standard settinginstitutions, agriculture regulatory andtradeinstitutions and other stakeholderssupporting agriculture development.However, the major focus sectors forthe dialogue were Tobacco growers,horticulture and Dairy.
Among the major issues that wereraised during the dialogue were thatgovernments must hype their efforts incurbing the sale of fake seeds on themarkets and more public privatepartnerships must be established tostrengthen research and developmentinitiatives to create a variety of cropsand encourage diversification fromMaize. The cost of energy in the regionremain high and it was another majorconcern for the dialogue. The dairysector urged member states to comeup
competitive, fair and inclusive businessmodels for the dairy supply chains andfurther they must support efforts indeveloping pricing models for milkwhether it must be based on volume ofquality. Harmonization of standardsacross the sectors at regional level wasanother issue that was raised amongthe recommendations.
The COMESA Secretariat wasrequested to implement the decisionof the COMESA Summit in 2012 on theapplication of Observer status at theWHO Framework Convention onTobacco Control - Conference of theParties (COP8). Member states werecalled upon to strengthen the regionalcommodity trade exchange bodies toallow regional sourcing of non- tobaccoproducts, thereby establishingsustainable markets for the products.
Further members states were urged todefend tobacco growers interests sothat the crop is not excluded or receiveany differentiated treatment under anyinternational trade and investmentagreement as this will impact thelivelihood of African tobacco farmers.
During the dialogue, three workinggroups were formed namely; TobaccoGrowers, Horticulture and Dairyworking groups. The group eachselected two representatives to be thechairperson and secretary.
2nd Agro Industry Dialogue
COMESA Business Council is thevoice of the private sector in theCOMESA Region
With the support of its partners andmembers The Zambia Business Dialoguewas convened on 5th April, 2017 and 80participants were present. The event wasgraced by Hon. Minister for CommerceIndustry and Trade Ms. MargaretMwanakatwe and Hon. Minister forTourism Mr. Charles Banda. The focussectors for the meeting were banking,horticulture and manufacturing. Thisdialogue set the tone for continued ef-forts in promoting public-private dialogueatnational level and the entire region.Among the recommendations of themeeting were that; governments shouldensure increased public privateConsultation before promulgation of reg-ulations and further urged them to reviewthe Tobacco Act which has been in forcesince 1967.The manufacturing sector urged thegovernment to review the preferentialprocurement threshold for localmanufactures from a sectoralperspective. Additionally, thegovernment must consider alternativesafeguard measures instead of surtaxeswhen imposing trade measures onregional products especially when someof the products are not
Zambia Business Dialogue
readily available in the Zambian market.
The Banks called for more dialogue withthe regulatory agencies to reduce thecosts of compliance reflected in time andmultiple costing of services and furthercalled for stronger campaign plans to en-courage Zambians to move towards cashlight economy, so as to encourage morecash flow within the banks and also pro-mote more viable financial schemes.There is need for harmonization of re-quirements by the financial services reg-ulators to alienate multiple reporting onsimilar issues.
The Zambian dialogue’s recommenda-tion formed part of the position paperthat CBC presented to the trade andtrade committee meeting with Directorsof trade from the region.
The Corporate Council on Africa’s 11th Biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit washeld June 13th – 16th, 2017 In Washington DC. Since 1997, CCA’s U.S.-AfricaBusiness Summit has been regarded as an essential conference for anyone look-ing to do business in Africa. As the leading U.S.-Africa non-profit, membershiporganization, CCA is an essential resource for U.S. companies doing business onthe continent.
This year’s U.S.-Africa Business Summit was one of the first opportunities for theU.S. and African private sector, and African governments to engage with theTrump Administration and key U.S. agency appointees. Summit included discus-sion sessions on doing business in Africa between leading experts from Africa andthe United States.
It was during this summit that the CBC signed a MoU with the U.S Chamber ofCommerce. The participation in the meeting gave opportunity for Participants willacquire more information on more the latest trade and investment opportunitiesin Africa’s most promising sectors. It was also a great Networking opportunity forthe CBC.
The COMESA Business Council re-cruited a Strategic Planning Con-sultant; to support the institutionthrough the development of aStrategic Plan and ImplementationRoadmap for a five year period of2017-2021. The COMESA BusinessCouncil will be adopting the Strate-gy at its upcoming Board Retreatand Annual General Meeting slat-ed for October, 2017.
Do you want - Information on COMESA/Businessor Market advisory /Intelligence/Report aBusiness Barrier /Membershipapplication/Dialogue – Sectoral WorkgroupParticipation/Linkages and Partnership - withCBC?
COMESA BUSINESS COUNCILBen Bell Road, P.O. Box 30051Lusaka, ZambiaTel: +260 1 229725/32
Our MissionTo promote a unified position of engagement for the COMESA privatesector- as a driving force in the creation of a market driven economy,effective regional integration, competitiveness, trade and investment
