Overview:
A new EAC digital platform aims to lift regional trade past the 15% mark by providing 2,000 small businesses with a permanent online showroom.
ARUSHA, Tanzania — The East African Community Secretariat is pinning its hopes on a new digital showroom to boost regional trade volumes, which currently languish at 15% compared to 67% in the European Union.
The digital platform, which has been in development for five years, was designed to provide micro, small and medium enterprises with a permanent online marketplace. The project follows a directive from EAC trade ministers who sought to address the logistical barriers exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deogratius Mbarara, an investment officer at the EAC Secretariat, said the platform targets the more than 2,000 small businesses that attend regional trade fairs annually but often lose momentum once those events conclude.
This number should grow because that is the target that we have been given by the council, because 15% is low, Mbarara said. He noted that bringing the informal sector into an accountable digital space is essential for increasing official trade volumes.
The initiative, known as the EAC Buyer Seller Platform, will facilitate business-to-business transactions and allow individual consumers to access regional products. Charles Omusana, principal economist at the EAC Secretariat, said the platform will also serve as a mechanism for quality control, as products must meet certain standards to trade effectively across the region.
Matia Etedu, an official with the Ugandan Ministry of East African Community Affairs, said the digital showroom will reduce the cost of doing business across borders by providing a regional branding tool and enabling direct business linkages.
The platform is expected to help the regional bloc transition from informal trading methods to a more integrated digital economy.