NAIROBI, Kenya
Trade and commodity finance experts are banking on infrastructure and energy projects as well as structured trade finance and institutional collaborations to boost trade in the region. This emerged when trade analysts and bankers met in Nairobi for a regional conference on trade and commodity finance.
The energy sector was cited as pivotal to the growth of trade with Kenya expected to start petroleum shipments in 2016, eclipsing neighbouring Uganda which is yet start exportation seven years later after striking crude oil. They forecasted that oil will help the country diversify its export earnings and spur infrastructural spending, especially on the expansion of the transport network.
They also anticipate the shilling to be buoyed by inflows of foreign exchange and declined expenditure on fuel importation. Speaking on the fringes of the conference Edward George, Head of Soft Commodities Research at Ecobank said financial institutions remained major facilitators of trade are currently angling to tap into Kenya’s future oil exports.
Mr. George emphasized on the need for region to focus on value addition for its exports instead of import substitution. Tullow Oil Plc estimates that Kenya’s deposits will hit 10 billion barrels. Apart from building refineries, he urged the region to consider putting up a massive petrol chemical complex.
Ecobank, said Mr George, has the requisite regional infrastructure to be an enabler of regional trade. The Bank which presently has over US$130 million fund under management has dedicated professional in over 30 African countries with extensive local knowledge and qualitative experience in trade finance and asset management. “We have experience in arranging credit for projects involving cross-border investments, specialising in development finance products and asset management among other financial services,” said Mr George.
East Africa is a top destination for the business fraternity angling for a portion of the East African pie due to the improved business environment and discovery of commercially viable oil and gas deposits in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Trade experts at the conference urged the East African region to ramp up intra-Africa trade as it remained Africa’s biggest opportunity for rapid economic development. Trade between EAC countries has been on the rise, with a recent report showing Kenya had eclipsed global Asian powerhouses in investing in the East African region.
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