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Thursday, 16 April 2009 14:17 |
While piracy off the East African coast has caught all the recent media attention, two other news items regarding the area have gone largely unnoticed. Both stories come out of Kenya where it was announced that efforts have been agreed on to help strengthen international shipping and trade...
The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) reported the story 'Kenya launches Megaports initiative' on April 15 and The Daily Nation from Nairobi had 'USAID launches project to promote trade in Africa' on April 16. (Both can also be found in TATT's "Latest News" section.) These are fantastic efforts to promote trade and security in a region that could use both.
According to the KBC piece, the megaports initiative was established in 2003 and "is now operational in 21 ports worldwide and work is underway to establish over 20 additional ports in Americas Asia and Caribbean". Kenya and the US signed their agreement on April 15, it will "install radiation detection equipment at the port of Mombasa to scan containerized cargo for nuclear and other radio active materials..."Kenya was chosen because of its geographical location since it is next to Somalia a global trade route that is vulnerable to terrorist exploitation adding that Mombasa is also a vital port in East Africa with more than 90 percent of international transit goods passing through it...More than 90% of international trade goods are transported by sea aboard container ships making the Global Marinetime System vulnerable to terrorist exploitation and could severely damage the global economy."
The Daily Nation report says the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is sponsoring the other project - Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Programme (Compete) - that "will assist customs units to streamline procedures and implement new methods for increasing transit efficiency in the region" which will "support value chains able to transform agriculture, advance trade and contribute to growth..."
The conclusion of the article says it all:
"Speaking during the launch of the programme at a Nairobi hotel on Wednesday, US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger said Africa contributes only three per cent to the value of goods traded globally. “If we want to change the lives of eastern and central Africans, we must increase trade,” he said."
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