Press Release

Africa Trade Week ends with launch of project to find Kenya’s e-winners

Where are Kenya’s potential e-trade winners on the international market? An innovative two-day meeting of the nation’s governmental telecoms experts, local businesses that have made their mark on the Internet, academics and trade support specialists agreed on Friday to act as an ‘incubator’ for Kenya’s most promising companies that want to take advantage of electronic commerce.

The first kickoff meeting of the e-trade bridge programme of the Geneva-based International Trade Centre of UNCTAD/WTO, held in Nairobi on Thursday and Friday (29-30 November) set up a working group to draw up a programme over the coming weeks. ITC offered to invite two people to Geneva to train them in assessment tools to help pick the companies that would take part in the incubator programme.

The detailed programme is to be presented to Kenya’s Taskforce on E-Commerce, whose representatives supported the initiative, in the first half of January.

The companies will receive training in Kenya in business strategy, marketing, distribution, human resources and network-relationship building issues. The next phase of the incubator programme will launch the fledgling e-businesses on the Web. After a certain time, the companies’ performance will be reviewed and any necessary corrections will be made. The final phase will promote these ‘success stories’ to act as an encouragement to other businesses.

Dr Osman Ataç, Chief of the Human Resources Division at ITC, commented: "The group of five sector representatives will be working over the next two weeks on the ‘rules of engagement’ for the incubator programme and deciding in detail on the process. We have to thank the Taskforce on E-Commerce and Alex Maina, Managing Director of Insight Technologies, from the Taskforce, for supporting this effort."

The kickoff meeting was the final event of the Africa Trade Week, which included the first ITC Regional Executive Forum on redefining national trade strategies, and the first ITC buyers-sellers meeting for African suppliers of relief goods used in humanitarian aid.

Closing the Africa Trade Week, Peter Muthoka, Chief Executive, Kenya Export Promotion Council (EPC), said the initiatives could only work if Kenyans own them and are committed to implementing them. "The Government of Kenya is committed to work with business to support the development and use of technology of this country for the expansion of trade and investment," he declared.

On behalf of ITC, Brian Barclay, Co-ordinator of the Regional Executive Forum, said that the closing of Africa Trade Week was only the end of a beginning. "A number of partnerships have been established," he reported. "Businesses have established partnerships, planners in the public and private sector have established partnerships, and as I saw this afternoon, a number of partnerships have been established at the e-trade bridge meeting." He was glad to see that the inaugural discussions had resulted in a practical action plan.