Demand for animal feeds and fertilizer within Kampala City Demand for alternatives sources of feeds and fertilizer has increased due to the Ukraine – Russia war that impacted the supply of fertilizers. Additionally, silver fish from lakes within Uganda used to be a key source for animal protein. However, over fishing has reduced the amount...
Regulatory environment around waste management in Kampala City The presidency made a directive in May 2023 through an executive order that requires all urban authorities to ensure that there is a garbage skip every 200 meters. The order is expected to be enforced in six months. However, feedback from various municipal and city authorities mentioned...
Kampala is organized into 7 collection zones and each zone has different companies that are in charge of collecting and transporting the waste. These companies are contracted under a PPP arrangement and have the exclusive rights to collect the garbage in those zones. The companies in charge of this waste collection include: M/s Kampala solid...
Climate change is a pressing global concern that poses a significant threat to economic prosperity. The economic costs of climate change can be felt in various industries and sectors, and have a notable impact on global GDP. According to a 2018 report by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, failure to take action...
The global economy started cooling off in 2022 and it is expected that we might end up in a recession in 2023. However, there is nothing new about recessions and the cyclical manner in which the world economy operates over the years. What we are currently experiencing has been experienced before and governments, businesses and...
Key issues and concerns remained at the end of the previous trade negotiation round. Developing countries felt that more needed to be done to strengthen the multilateral trading system. The prevailing system then for example, permitted developed countries to impose temporary trade restrictions to protect local industries and hence negotiations on safeguards were to continue....
Carbon pricing should be a key component of any climate mitigation strategy designed to assist countries in reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Humans depend majorly on fossil fuels to drive their economies and that’s why we need an immediate way to encourage the shift to clean energy by imposing tangible economic pressure. Policymakers considering...
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) envisions a continental market of about 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of over $3.4 trillion. In the 12th extra ordinary meeting of the African Union held on July 2019 in Niamey, the operational phase of AfCFTA was launched. What characterized the launch was the adoption of...
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pose several potential economic and environmental risks to property, human health, agricultural productivity, and the ecosystem. Carbon pricing transfers the cost of the damage caused by GHG emissions back to those responsible. Instead of dictating who should reduce emissions where and how, a carbon price sends an economic signal to emitters,...
Africa’s economy is highly dependent on the international markets for both exports and imports. COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the continent’s extreme vulnerability to disruptions of international supply chains; as 53% of its imports originated from nations that were heavily impacted by the pandemic. With over 60% of the nation’s being importers of essential goods, global trade...
The Kennedy Round of Negotiations The sixth round of negotiations under GATT was called the Kennedy round named after former United States President John Kennedy; and took place between 1963 to 1967 in Geneva. 62 countries participated in this round, including seven members of the other European trade bloc, the European Free Trade Association. This...
Kenya actively participates in international trade to expand its market and have access to products that it lacks domestically. In 2021, the country’s total export was estimated at USD 6.739 billion with horticulture and tea among its leading export items valued at approximately USD 1.4 billion and USD 1.1billion, respectively. In that same year goods...
Africa’s infrastructure development remains severely deficient, with an estimated need for infrastructure investment of more than USD 100 billion. Like the region’s internet development since the early 2000s, the rest of the sectors particularly transportation infrastructure; must be well established to reap the enormous benefits of connectivity. A good internet connectivity ensures faster and more...
Once a product has reached its last mile of distribution, most companies will not invest their resources in tracking the performance of that product. Concerns of incomplete orders, product mismatch or delayed delivery time have to be taken up by customers themselves to the company’s customer care department. Yet in the event that any of...
To promote and enforce fair trade practices between countries, the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland was formed in 1995. Currently, WTO has 164 member states with 25 other countries negotiating for membership. The institution which currently has oversight on 98% of global trade; is the successor of the General Agreement on Tariffs...
Economic circularity seeks to transform the current linear model of production and consumption by focusing on three main principles: reducing consumption of finite material resources, recovering materials from waste through recycling, and extending product life through reuse. It examines the transition from a linear to a circular economy, which provides a value chain approach to...
Private companies exist to create and grow value for their shareholders. Some of the ways to achieve this core mandate is by growing the business operations through expansion to new markets, developing new products or services or through mergers and acquisitions. When seeking new avenues for growth, most companies conduct outward looking feasibility studies that...
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement is set to unlock the continent’s growth potential by connecting over 1.3 billion people across 55 countries; with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD3.4 trillion. According to the World Bank, its implementation could boost Africa’s exports by USD560 billion, increase incomes by USD450 billion, and...
Overview of DRC According to the World Bank, the DRC is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with a population of about 90 million people and is the second largest country by landmass in the continent. DRC is well endowed with natural resources among them minerals such as copper and cobalt, vast arable land,...
In 1997, industrialized countries made a promise under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce their annual emissions by an average of 5.2% by the year 2012; which represented 29% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. In 2015, the Kyoto protocol was replaced with a non-binding Paris Agreement with a mandated progress review every five years...
The clothing industry in Kenya is dominated by the imported second hand clothes (mitumba) which are often preferred by a majority of the population over the new ones. Living in a middle income country, a huge chunk of the disposable income for most Kenyans is channeled towards basic human wants like food, shelter and mitumba...
Air travel is a powerful economic growth and development catalyst, facilitating integration into the global economy and providing critical connectivity on a national, regional, and international scale, supporting 7.7 million jobs and $63 billion in African economic activity. According to Aviation Benefits Beyond Borders, this represented 2.2% of total employment and 2.7% of total GDP...
The second hand clothing (mitumba) industry has been the breadbasket for about 2 million Kenyans. Albeit classified under the informal sector, the industry is a blend of both skilled and unskilled labour from different sectors, employing an estimated 10% of the total extended labour force (20,641,175 people) according to the Labour Force Survey report in...
Women and youths form a critical demographic that has direct impact to the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. The main agenda for the AfCFTA is to create a single market for goods and services across Africa; facilitated by free movement of people and capital. However, despite Africa being the youngest...
Over the past decade, Africa has been taunted as the next growth frontier for the world; with the potential to generate outsized returns for investors from within and out of the continent. However, the anticipated exponential growth has not been experienced yet. This is due to a number of factors, one of which is the...
The transportation sector accounts for nearly 25% of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions globally. The transportation sector relies heavily on the combustion of fossil fuels, making it one of the most significant producers of both urban and regional air pollution. According to the “Used cars and the Environment” report by UNEP used vehicles exported from...
Energy inclusion for rural households in Africa: A case of Rwanda Lack of electricity connection and regular power outages are cited as some of the leading causes for slow growth and businesses failure in most African countries. This then results to the vicious poverty cycle in rural communities across the continent. To deal with this...
Market Overview The growth of Kenya’s e-commerce ecosystem has been on an upward trajectory, thanks to mobile connectivity which has improved internet access, online payments systems that have facilitated transactions and the logistical infrastructure that is slowly taking shape in the country. According to Statista, revenue in the e-commerce market in Kenya was projected to...
Electronic games are the fastest growing segment in the gaming industry. Electronic games also have the highest level of product type heterogeneity, encompassing a wide range of programmed products that are consumed via different hardware at different occasions. Each game assigns an active role to the user that goes well beyond the activity level required...
The concept of a shopping mall with large department stores originated in the United States and aimed at creating a community-based environment for shopping and leisure. Families and friends would visit malls to enjoy the scenery and products offered by the various brands that occupy the spaces. A mall would attract customers if it was...
In many ways, 2022 will be similar to 2021; with renewed hope for economic recovery across the world as countries continue to reduce Covid-19 restrictions. At the global arena, we expect two main agenda to dominate decision making by executives in the private sector and policy makers in the public sector: Covid-19 and the climate...
The city of Kigali generates about 600 tons of Municipal Solid Waste per day, which is projected to grow over time as the country undergoes significant economic transformation to become a lower middle income country. Currently the city of Kigali is struggling with its Solid Waste Management (SWM) system because of its limited waste minimization...
When it comes to the future of digital marketing, it is important to look at the technology behind it. The internet has changed the way we live, and it has changed the way we do business. With the global adoption of the internet, the era of artificial intelligence (AI) has set in. Machines can complement...
A proper transport network is a major catalyst to economic development and growth for any developing or developed country. Transport and logistics enables movement of economic commodities through different economic zones. In Africa, transport plays a critical role in not only facilitating growth but also in the integration of the region. It provides vital links...
The aspirations of the founding fathers of the African continent post-independence converged on a united Africa under the spirit of Pan Africanism and Ubuntu. Fast forward about six decades later, trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was launched in January 2021; marking the beginning of trade liberalization across the continent. As Africa...
That Africa is shifting its economic growth model from being commodity based to entrepreneurship driven is a no brainer to policy makers across the continent. Following the fall in commodity prices in 2015 that led to many oil dependent countries slowing down in terms of economic growth policy makers in most African countries are now...
The impact investing space is growing in Africa and could be the trigger this developing continent needs for faster sustainable development. As the MDGs are being replaced by the SDGs in 2015, new development concepts and policies are being floated for Africa to adopt. Impact investing could be one of the best strategies if embraced...
Coming from a premise of factor-driven economies, Africa has not in the past explored extensively the relationship that exists around entrepreneurship, economic growth & structural transformation. However, as we highlighted in our article on Fusing Innovation & Entrepreneurship for Economic Growth in Africa; the tide is quickly changing, and now it’s the right time for...
From Foraging to Domestication A trip down history lane reveals that all humanity was once engaged in similar activities of hunting and gathering. Yes, some many years ago depending on which history book you read, we were all hunters and gathers doing what is commonly referred to as foraging. However, due to climatic changes and...
Coming immediately after the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution was characterized by mechanization of production processes, use of new sources of energy and rapid urbanization. The Agricultural Revolution led to increased food production which lowered the cost of food and shifted the focus of communities into demanding other goods and services that could improve their...