{Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) has launched a $7.5 million fund to finance innovative projects from the five East Africa partner states that focus on eliminating challenges that hamper regional trade.
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TMEA is a multi-donor funded agency that provides support for increased regional trade and economic integration. It seeks to accelerate the implementation of East African Community (EAC) protocols towards regional integration.
The project dubbed ‘’Trade Mark East Africa Challenge Fund’, was launched mid this week in Kigali by Mark Priestly, the Rwanda country director for the agency.
The fund will run for a period of three years, targeting private sector and civil society organizations.
“A Challenge Fund such as this provides a great opportunity for us to approach business directly and tap into the well of creativity and entrepreneurship that exists out there,” Priestly said during the launch.
Several challenges such as non-tariff barriers, compositeness and supply side constraints still hamper the region’s fragile trade scenario, he said.
“In particular, we are looking for innovative and new ideas for stimulating trade and overcoming the trade challenges that Rwanda and the region face,” he asserted.
The grant invests in innovative projects started by the private sector and civil society organizations that can boost regional trade among the partner states. The fund has already been introduced in Kenya and Tanzania and would soon be launched in Burundi and Uganda, he further noted.
Rwanda’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Francois Kanimba, said the fund was a timely initiative that would boost the country’s efforts to transform its economy to a service-based one through increased exports.
“This initiative will open the door to businesses which have innovative projects but have so far been unable to finance them due to the inherent risk involved,” the minister underlined.
The fund focuses on projects likely to deliver policy and institutional change, enhancing ability to deliver systematic change. “It’s a niche fund that compliments other funds in operation,” the minister observed.
Kanimba said the challenge fund was an opportunity for Rwandans to compete regionally in accessing the funds to develop their businesses.
“You have to work hard to be able to get a significant share (of the funds). You will be competing with other regional applicants,” he emphasized, reminding interested applicants to submit their proposals on time.
Some of the projects to be given priority include manufacturers who set up an innovative supply chain to source raw materials like cotton and vegetable oil seeds from other EAC countries, or telephone companies reducing calling costs by investing in new technologies that overcome infrastructure constraints, he added.
On the picture: TMEA’s CEO Frank Matsaert, Finance Minister John Rwangombwa and EAC Minister Monique Mukaruliza. (photo Abraham Rumanzi)
{The Guardian}
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