Recently, the East African Community (EAC) started moving towards harmonising trade among its member countries where it hopes to have one test, one standard and one certificate. However, while trade harmonising among African trade blocs has been going on, ensuring member countries can trade among themselves, trade amongst African countries is yet to happen. Therefore, the next step, according to Mr David Livingstone Ebiru, the executive director of Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), is to create a harmonised trade among African countries.
“While there is 1.3 billion people in Africa, there is only 16 percent trade among African countries. The irony is that while many African countries are drawn to trade with other trade blocs, these have rejected our goods on grounds of product quality. Additionally, several trade blocs have also used the issue of standards against Africa,” he says.
Mr Ebiru cites an example of other countries wanting African countries to harmonise the sizes of their organic produce.
“Despite these meeting world standards, some countries want them in particular sizes and weights which we cannot tailor make. So if these big avocados, for example, are not good for the rest of the world, why not trade amongst ourselves seeing that we can appreciate them?” he posits.
Mr Odrek Rwabogo, the presidential advisor on export and industrial development points out that our major exports are horticulture products and European standards keep getting tighter to protect their population but also limit our sales.
“If the importers detect something that goes against their standards, the destruction is done for the whole consignment and at the importer’s cost. We lose between $100m and $180m in interceptions. While all that affects our revenue, it also destroys our reputation as we are looked at as those with wanting standards. We need to be smarter with the standards that are regularly updated.
Mr Hermogene Nsengimana, the Secretary General for African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) says with 650 standards, can we harmonise these?
“It is happening in SADC, ECOWAS and EAC. Can we have these blocs gel into one standard? African countries are fighting themselves but we cannot achieve the one standard-one stop and one test if one does not work towards it.
It helps that Africa becomes an enhancer of trade not a barrier. We should become standard makers rather than takers,” he posits.
Mr Ebiru says the challenge of our African consumers is mind-set where many think that anything African is not good enough.
“However, most of these raw materials we export to foreign markets is what is used to make the products we are consuming and thinking are superior. African standard bodies need to encourage trade amongst African countries to add value to the raw materials we are currently exporting so we can put equally superior products on the market than those we are currently importing from Europe,” he says.
Mr Ebiru says UNBS and other standard bodies across Africa are looking at promoting ‘Made in Africa’ policy where African countries trade more among the products made in Africa hence steadily reduce their reliance on imports from other parts of the world.
The other challenge worth looking into is poor connectivity amongst African nations. For instance, it is easier to get to Europe or China than it is to go from Uganda to DRC.
Setting the ball rolling
To drive African standard harmonisation, technical experts gathered in Uganda to forge a way forward to see that the one standard, one test and one certificate is achieved.
“We are currently spending more on importing from other countries than amongst us and we want to change that by participating in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that was approved and accented to by all the 54 countries. That way, we can have a bigger market for our products. We are looking to increase trade volumes to 40 percent amongst Africans because what is made out there can be made in Africa,” Mr Ebiru says.
To turn the tide, where Africans can pride in trading with each other, Mr Rwabogo says it takes long to change culture.
Therefore, education while demonstrating what can happen when Africans consistently trade among themselves is crucial. The education also involves helping Africans appreciate that things from outside Africa are not necessarily superior.
It also helps to inculcate the culture that borders do not divide us. That way, we will work for the greater good of the continent rather than just a trading bloc,” he says.
Standards violation
While there are standards, several exporters still ship out poor quality goods which affects importers’ trust.
Ebiru says government realised the need to organise export trade because previously, they left it to individual traders who did not appreciate the role of standards in these markets.
“There is a challenge when government is not aware of who trades in a particular item. Therefore, there is a move to organise and register these in groups so they trade as Uganda rather than individuals. Additionally, they will access help under these umbrellas. That way, we will increase compliance although we are currently promoting voluntary compliance to the traders. While we have negotiated waiving of taxes, and volume restrictions, standards cannot be waived,” he says.
