East African Business Notifier

  BY EABN CORRESPONDENT The Founder of the African Integration ThinkTank (AfITT), Gashegu Muramira has won the 2024 Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Media award. COMESA is an African economic grouping of 21 member states with over 600 million people, making it the largest market for trade & investment in the world.   AfITT is a vibrant research, awareness and advocacy institute bringing together over 1,000 professionals in different fields from the different regions of Africa.   “Gashegu’s article was relevant, informative, and well-presented and no doubt contributed immensely to promoting awareness of the benefits and impact of the COMESA regional integration agenda,” reads a letter signed by Mwangi Gakunga, the Head of Communications, on behalf of COMESA Secretary General Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe.   Gakunga added that the information presented in the article encouraged stakeholders and citizens to understand and support the dev...

  T he global health community faces a critical funding shortfall that threatens the timely distribution of malaria vaccines to millions of vulnerable children in Africa, according to a White Paper authored by 1Day Sooner and the Center for Global Development (CGD), informed by conversations with the World Health Organisation (WHO), among other partners.  Despite unprecedented progress with malaria vaccines such as R21, a $4 billion funding gap endangers the goal of vaccinating all eligible children by 2030. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has allocated $1.5 billion, covering only one-third of the estimated $4–5 billion needed. According to the white paper titled “Avoiding Another Lost Decade on Malaria Vaccines,” malaria remains a major public health crisis in Africa, accounting for 95% of global malaria deaths, most of which occur among children under five. Vaccines like R21 offer a transformative, cost-effective solution. Priced at just $3.90 per dose, and with a capacity to sa...

  In a strategic move to amplify its influence and effectiveness, the Organizing Committee of the  RegTech Africa Conference  has announced the expansion of its Advisory Council into three dynamic tiers:  Global, Continental, and National . This development aligns with the conference’s commitment to fostering transformative dialogue and partnerships that will redefine Africa’s economic future through collaboration and innovation. The expanded Advisory Council brings together an exceptional roster of experts and thought leaders from across the globe, representing diverse sectors and regions.  These distinguished individuals will provide strategic guidance and thought leadership to ensure the success of the  2025 RegTech Africa Conference and Awards , scheduled to take place on  May 22-23 , 2025, at the  Lagos Oriental Hotel  in Lagos, Nigeria. Themed  “Unlocking Africa’s Cross-Border Payments, Trade, and Investment Opportunities through P...

As the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) gears up for the 44th- commemoration of the Tarehe Sita on February 6th in the greater Masaka region, Stanbic Bank Uganda has donated an assortment of medical equipment to the entity to boost maternal health services. Stanbic Bank’s contributions included 10 delivery beds, 100 Mama Kits and 2,000 fruit tree seedlings. The bank will also deliver sports kits for the Marathon on February 5th. While handing over the donation, Diana Ondoga, the Manager of Corporate Social Investment at Stanbic Bank said, "We were here in 2023 when we delivered two incubators and had promised that we would donate three more. However, last year, we had a conversation on finding a need equally meaningful." "We are very keen on safe motherhood as an entity. We are also very keen on growing Uganda. We are more than banking. We are here to grow , transform and change Uganda.  "A healthy country easily facilitates socio-economic transformation. I...

Uganda’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) account for an impressive 90% of the private sector, contributing 75% to GDP and employing over 3 million people. Despite this critical role, the MSME sector faces systemic challenges that stifle its growth potential. Today, the Ministry of Trade, Industries, and Cooperatives, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, IPSOS, Ichuli Institute, and other partners, launched the State of Entrepreneurship in Uganda 2024—a landmark report offering a comprehensive assessment of Uganda’s entrepreneurial landscape.  The report introduced the National Entrepreneurship Index (NEI), which scored 57%, signaling a moderately healthy ecosystem while highlighting the need for targeted interventions. The Minister of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, Francis Mwebesa, said, “Given the role MSMEs in Uganda play in generating employment and enhancing GDP, it is imperative to understand the landscape, profiles, critical barriers, and growth dri...

  As Donald Trump returned to the White House, signals from the bond market are bursting out of the specialist world of financial geeks to become a major news item and a central concern for policymakers.  One is reminded of the Democratic strategist James Carville’s famous  quip , during Bill Clinton’s presidency, that if he could be reincarnated, he would “like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.” He may not like it, but Trump must now ask himself how bond markets will respond if he follows through on some of his stated policy preferences or continues to behave as erratically in office as he did on the campaign trail. There are two big reasons why Trump and his advisers should be concerned. First, while the market’s immediate reaction to the presidential election seemed to reflect heightened optimism about the US economy’s growth prospects, the euphoria was short-lived.  Though  bond yields  were already rising, most observers as...

Significant progress has been made in combating malaria, but the battle seems to have stalled, with the   WHO ’ s 2024  World Malaria Report   noting that there were 11 million more cases of the disease in 2023 than there were in 2022. Another 600,000 people died from the disease in 2023 with no significant improvement compared to 2022.  Approximately 95% of deaths caused by malaria are in the African region, where many people still lack access to the services they need to prevent, detect and treat the disease - and half those deaths were in four African countries - Nigeria (30.9%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (11.3%), Niger (5.9%), and Tanzania (4.3%).  Nigeria (26%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (13%), Uganda (5%), Ethiopia (4%), and Mozambique (4%) carry the heaviest burden of cases. Eleven African countries still account for two-thirds of the global malaria burden, and despite improved political commitments to addressing the issue, it’s clear t...