After emerging champions during the 5^th Entrepreneurship Exposition in May 26^th 2007, the University of Nairobi is in New York, USA to represent Kenya in the International Entrepreneurship Competition (The SIFE World Cup) that will take place on 10^th – 14^th, October 2007 at the Hilton Hotel in New York. The team will compete with over 45 other national champions in their respective countries. The competitions are organized as a best practice sharing forum where teams share their passion and enthusiasm for teaching others Market Economics, Business Ethics, Success Skills, Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy and Sustainability. The winning team will be declared the 2007 SIFE World Cup winners. Accompanying the team to New York are SIFE Kenya Country Director, Mr. James Shikwati, and Ms. Rose Karimi, Faculty Advisor-Africa Nazarene University, who was awarded faculty advisor of the year for 2007.

Mata Tourist Access Facility to be Opened

Botswana President Festus Mogae will host his counterparts from South Africa and Namibia for the opening of a border crossing at a trans-frontier wildlife park. Mata Tourist Access Facility, located within the giant Kgalagadi Park at Matamata, a desert area where the borders of western Botswana, northern South African and eastern Namibia meet, will allow for easier movement between the three countries. The facility would help the region as a whole benefit from South Africa's hosting of the 2010 football World Cup by making it easier for tourists to go back and forth.

Eastern Africa Power Connectivity

The Eastern Africa power connectivity plan may not take off unless Zambia, the main supplier in the interconnection project, demonstrates its capacity to generate more power for distribution to Kenya and Tanzania. Kenyan officials have developed cold feet over the multi-million dollar electricity deal whose construction work is billed to begin in 2011 after the completion of a series of feasibility studies, including environmental audits and its financial viability studies. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has expressed willingness to meet some financial obligations of the US$670 million project.

EA Countries Establishes an Anti Graft Body

East Africa countries have established a regional anti-graft body. Through the body, the Anti-corruption Association of East Africa, the three East African countries aim to forge closer ties for fighting corruption and economic crimes within the region. The establishment of the body follows a meeting held in Kampala, Uganda between the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), Uganda's Inspectorate of Government and Tanzania's Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau. During the meeting, the heads of the anti-corruption authorities signed the "Kampala Declaration of the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities," which among other things seeks to encourage the respective Governments to deny safe haven to corrupt persons, ill-gotten wealth, and investment of tainted money in their countries.

Japan's Development Initiative for Trade to be Implemented

Japan has pledged to help developing countries build up constitutional capacity to formulate policies, improve regulatory frameworks and foster human resources by steadily implementing Japan's Development Initiative for Trade that was launched in December 2005. Speaking at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)/African Development Bank (AfDB) meeting in Dar es Salaam, Mr. Keitaro Sato, Japan's ambassador in charge of peace building in Africa, said Japan will  continue to provide AfT in accordance with Japan's official development assistance charter and help recipient countries to increase their trade and investments in order to support sustainable development. He also promised that Japan would host the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICADIV) between May 28-30, 2008 in Yokohama.

Addis Ababa to Host the Committee on Trade, Regional Cooperation and Integration

Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia is hosting Ministers and senior officials from over 40 African countries at the 5th Meeting of the Committee on Trade, Regional Cooperation and Integration, which takes place on 8-10 October. The African Union and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) meeting at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa are deliberating on state of the regional integration agenda. 

Maxwell Mkwezalamba, African Union's (AU) Commissioner for Economic Affairs, while addressing the opening of the fifth session of the African Committee on Trade, said that lack of political will and the failure of African states to honor their financial obligations are among obstacles holding back the continent's integration process. In addition, multiple memberships of regional economic communities and the resultant duplication of integration efforts in the face of limited resources were other factors to blame for the slow progress to integration. He said member states should take decisive steps to address these bottlenecks in order to accelerate integration of the continent.

Compiled by Anne Mugoya
Inter Region Economic Network