On April 27, 2022, KEPSA, led by the Chairperson Ms. Flora Mutahi, co-hosted the 10^th edition of the Swedish – East African Chamber of Commerce (SWEACC) Business and Investment Forum at the Nairobi Serena Hotel. The SWEACC Business Forum is a key annual business event with an aim of promoting trade and investments between Sweden and East Africa. This year’s theme was “Digitalization for societal development”, with a focus on Health-tech, Edu-tech, Fin-tech, Green-tech and Agri-tech sectors.

Present at the event were Ms. Betty Maina – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade & Enterprise Development; Mr. Fredrick Matwang’a – Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Jan Furuvald – SWEACC Chairman; Dr. Richard Masozera – High Commissioner of Rwanda in Kenya; Amb. Louise Bergholm – Ambassador for Trade – Africa Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden; Mr. Rashid Kiboa – Director of Trade, East African Community (EAC) Secretariat; Mr. Ally S. Gugu – Deputy Permanent Secretary (Investment), Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of Tanzania; Amb. Nimisha Madhvani – Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Nordic Countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) among other dignitaries and private sector players.

Organized by the Embassies from the EAC accredited to the Kingdom of Sweden in partnership with the SWEACC and others, the forum aims to promote Business to Business (B2B), Business to Government (B2G) and Government to Business (G2B) trade and investments between Sweden and East Africa.

In a speech read by Mr. Fredrick Matwang’a, Amb. Johnson Weru – Permanent Secretary, State Department for Trade and Enterprise Development in the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development said, the forum was happening at an opportune time, just as businesses were recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Africa still faces challenges on technological penetration due to limited capacity, both human and institutional. Looking at the theme for this year’s forum, Digitalization for Societal Development, East Africa especially now, has the chance to leverage the Swedish technological and innovation space through investments in the region. It’s our duty therefore to work closely together focusing on developments that would help us get out of the Covid-19 pandemic,” He said.

Ms. Flora Mutahi said the event’s theme was in line with KEPSA’s strategic focus on SME support initiatives given that digitalization and technology is the key driver of economic growth while ensuring transparency and accountability in the delivery of public services. “ICT aids economic growth by expanding the reach of technology, and such include broadband, wireless, satellite subscriptions. As KEPSA we often play an outward role in championing technological advancement in business and for everyone, because we know technology encourages collaboration, aids in business intervention with ICT tools are being vastly employed to streamline business services and transformation,” Noted Ms. Mutahi.

The KEPSA Chair gave an example of the KEPSA E-commerce Booster Programme, through which over 2000 SMEs have been trained to increase their digital capacity, as well as the Ajira Digital Programme, which has to date trained over 10,000 youth in digital skills allowing them to create their own digital and digitalized jobs and opportunities.

In his remarks, Mr. Jan Furuvald said that since 2012, the SWEACC through the business forum aims to be the number one meeting place for companies, investors, and government officials to promote and expand trade and investment between East Africa and Sweden, extending to other Nordic countries. “SWEACC is a member of the European Business Council for Africa and our focus is on improving knowledge, networking, and collaboration with the aim of expanding SME engagements between Sweden and East Africa,” He noted while adding that most of these developments in Kenya will come from SWEACC collaboration with KEPSA among other partners.

Dr. Masozera said the EAC region with a growing GDP that stands at USD $200 Billion, continues to enjoy positive bilateral relations with Sweden. “The East African region is a highly agrarian economy with strong inter and intra-trade engagements with the region playing the role of a technological hub. This forum is therefore timely to identify gaps across the mentioned thematic areas, with great wealth in knowledge and resources to be harnessed amongst us, and it is up to us to create these synergies to benefit the generations to come”, he said.

Amb. Louise Bergholm said for sustainable growth and global development stakeholders need to ensure that no one is left behind in the global digitization journey. “The digital economy will be a key driver for inclusive and sustainable development. With the pandemic, the digital development of society got a strong push, and we all were fast-tracked into digitalization, but we also saw the impact of digital divides locally and globally. International trade and investments can be powerful tools in the dissemination of new technologies,” Said Amb. Bergholm.

Mr. Rashid Kiboa, speaking on behalf of Ambassador Dr. Peter Mutuku, Secretary-General, East Africa Community, said the EAC summit had already initiated the digitization of the Union along technology lines within the immigration, investment, e-commerce, and e-customs sectors. “The EAC is in the process of implementing the e-health, e-finance, e-agriculture, and e-education programs, to improve service delivery. Similarly, programs relating to the AfCFTA will be implemented upon the digitization of the EAC,” He said.

Mr. Gugu said the country was in the final stage of setting up Tanzania’s investors’ electronic window with the setting up of e-government platforms already completed. “This forum will have a great contribution to increasing investments between the Nordic countries and the East African Community. We will continue to partner and engage in various forums alongside our regional partners to promote a conducive business environment in East Africa,” Said Gugu.

Amb. Nimisha Madhvani said digitalization for social development should be included in key growth sectors in which Uganda is also seeking investments such as agro-industrialization, energy, and mineral development, tourism development as well as investments in health and pharmaceutical sectors.

In her keynote speech, Ms. Betty Maina said the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted digital divide challenges, with only 28 percent of the estimated 1.4 billion people in Africa having access to the internet, which also presents the largest potential for progress and private sector investment, especially in cyber security. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterized by the fusion of the digital, biological, and physical worlds, as well as the growing utilization of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud computing, Robotics, 3D Printing, the Internet of Things, and Advanced Wireless Technologies, among others have ushered in a new era of economic disruption and opportunities for Africa. Kenya, she added has almost 300 government services already being offered digitally or via digitally enabled platforms.

The event also featured four panel discussions namely ICT innovation for Business in East Africa, ICT as an enabler for Agribusiness in East Africa, and Financing ICT Innovation; breakout sessions and a plenary session. From the discussions, it emerged that multiple licensing systems are scaring investors away and therefore the need to have a uniform licensing procedure in order to attract more investors. The need to harmonize the legal framework for the EAC Member States was also highlighted.