DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania May 5 \u2013 Private sector leaders from Kenya and Tanzania, under the umbrella of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kenya Private Sector Alliance) and the Tanzania Private Sector Federation (Tanzania Private Sector Federation), have jointly called on both governments to accelerate regional economic integration and remove persistent barriers to trade.<\/p>\n
In a joint communique read by KEPSA CEO Carole Kariuki during the Tanzania\u2013Kenya Business Forum in Dar es Salaam, and in the presence of President William Ruto and President Samia Suluhu Hassan, business leaders stressed the need to create a seamless East African market driven by efficiency, stability, and integrated infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The private sector emphasized that while progress has been made within the East African Community (EAC), more work is needed to dismantle Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), harmonize regulations, and improve cross-border trade efficiency.<\/p>\n
During a panel discussion on financial systems, fintech, and the digital economy, KEPSA Chairperson Dr. Jaswinder Bedi noted that the region continues to register strong economic growth. <\/p>\n
However, he cautioned that East Africa still faces a structural trade imbalance, largely driven by heavy reliance on imported capital goods and energy products.<\/p>\n
Industry leaders also shared insights on regional operations and investment opportunities. KCB Group CEO Paul Russo highlighted the institution\u2019s cross-border success in Kenya and Tanzania, while Kenya Association of Manufacturers (Kenya Association of Manufacturers) CEO Tobias Alando spoke on strengthening agricultural value chains under the theme \u201cFrom Farm to Market.\u201d<\/p>\n
In their keynote remarks, both President Ruto and President Suluhu Hassan reaffirmed their commitment to deepening economic cooperation and creating a predictable business environment anchored on regulatory clarity, infrastructure development, and investor protection.<\/p>\n
President Ruto emphasized that beyond trade and capital, free movement of people, labour, services, and investment remains central to unlocking regional innovation and opportunity.<\/p>\n
President Suluhu Hassan, on her part, urged both nations to move beyond rivalry and fully embrace partnership, stressing that implementation of existing agreements must take precedence over rhetoric.<\/p>\n
The forum also featured B2B matchmaking sessions where delegates identified key bottlenecks affecting bilateral trade. <\/p>\n
Major concerns included persistent Non-Tariff Barriers, discriminatory taxes and fees, and inconsistent regulatory standards that continue to increase the cost of doing business\u2014particularly in agriculture.<\/p>\n
The summit concluded with the signing of eight new Memoranda of Understanding covering trade, investment, infrastructure, and transport cooperation. <\/p>\n
Both Heads of State also directed officials to eliminate all remaining Non-Tariff Barriers by 31st May 2026, signaling renewed urgency in advancing regional integration.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania May 5 \u2013 Private sector leaders from Kenya and Tanzania, under the umbrella of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kenya Private Sector Alliance) and the Tanzania Private Sector Federation (Tanzania Private Sector Federation), have jointly called on both governments to accelerate regional economic integration and remove persistent barriers to trade. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139926\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}