MAY 2018
Livestock trade accounts for 42 percent of Kenya's agricultural GDP and 10 to 15 percent of the country's overall GDP. To increase market linkages in this vital economic sector, the USAID Hub supported its first of several upcoming livestock trade forums. Read about it below.
In this issue:
  • Livestock traders gain at USAID- and ILRI-supported forum
  • USAID Hub launches Tanzania investment policy assessment 2018 to stimulate, protect and retain foreign investment 
  • Women entrepreneurs win funding at USAID-supported Tanzania Gender Lens Investment Showcase
  • U.S. buyers can't get enough of East African coffee
  • Rwandan agribusiness secures capital for growth – farmers and consumers gain
  • Hub showcases high-quality, affordable apparel to U.S. buyers
Livestock traders gain at USAID- and ILRI-supported forum
Enthusiastic traders from several counties in northern Kenya and from across the border in Ethiopia joined a USAID Hub-facilitated livestock trade forum in Marsabit, Kenya on May 9. By close of business, participating livestock buyers and sellers signed contracts for a total of 5,373 livestock at a value of $406,774.

The USAID Hub organized the livestock trading platform to efficiently link traders together from the arid and semi-arid lands, where 70 percent of Kenya's national livestock herds are kept. The Hub facilitated the platform in partnership with the Accelerated Value Chain Development – Livestock Component program, implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute.


Kenya's livestock sector, including the camels above, contributes to 42 percent of Kenya’s agricultural GDP and 10-15 percent of its total GDP. With such a great impact on the economy, the sector has a high potential to contribute towards achieving economic growth through an expansion of the regional and export market of both semi-processed and finished leather goods.
USAID Hub launches Tanzania investment policy assessment 2018 to stimulate, protect and retain foreign investment 
On May 23, the USAID Hub launched the Tanzania Investment Policy Assessment 2018 as part of the U.S.-Tanzania Policy and Innovation Forum held in Dar es Salaam. The assessment will serve policy makers, reform agents and investors as they work together to stimulate, protect, and retain greater foreign direct investment (FDI) in Tanzania.


“Through increased private sector investment, Tanzania can address critical infrastructure demands such as affordable energy for all and transportation network, while simultaneously building local human capital, which will push Tanzania into middle-income status and beyond," said Charge d' Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Dr. Inmi Patterson (pictured above).
Women entrepreneurs win funding at USAID-supported Tanzania Gender Lens Investment Showcase
Three budding women entrepreneurs won funding to advance their businesses through the Gender Lens Investment Showcase held by New Faces New Voices in collaboration with the USAID Hub in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on May 24.

Salome Mauki of Dresa Modern Butchery, Agatha Kyogero of Agatha Agribusiness Shop and Emelda Mwamanga of Relim Company Limited were among eight female entrepreneurs who had the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges, accelerators and investors. The event provided a platform for women entrepreneurs to raise their business profiles and engage with investors for possible investment and business support.

"I feel encouraged and motivated by the decision of the judges to pick me as one of the winners. This is proof that others are seeing the need that I saw when I started my business to sell fresh beef, free range poultry products, fresh fish, domestic and a variety of barbeque and food spices," said Salome Mauki (above in the middle),
U.S. buyers can't get enough of East African coffee
Last year the U.S. became the top purchaser of Kenyan coffee. The USAID Hub helped drive the market linkages that led to increased sales and facilitated six U.S. buyers missions to East African countries to help buyers source the coffee their consumers crave. This month, the Hub supported a U.S. buyers mission to Burundi.

Also this month, the Hub joined the U.S. Uganda Mission at the Speciality Coffee Association of America's annual conference in Seattle, Washington to raise the profile of Ugandan coffee on the U.S. market and to encourage Ugandan coffee produces to make greater use of U.S equipment, machinery and expertise in the development of their national coffee industry. Read more about it here .
U.S. coffee consumers gush about the floral notes and brightness of East African brews. U.S. coffee roasters consistently list East African countries as home to their favorite lots of specialty beans. Watch our video to learn why East African coffees are so special.

Rwandan agribusiness secures capital for growth – farmers and consumers gain
Rwanda Agribusiness “Yak Fair Trade” is creating jobs and expanding the availability of nutritious foods thanks to a grant program to GroFin funded by the USAID Hub. The program is helping East African agribusinesses get the support they need to secure financing, expand their businesses and ultimately serve as models for demonstrating that investing in agriculture is worthwhile and transformative for individuals and economies.

With USAID Hub/GroFin support, Yak Fair Trade secured financing to expand the milling capacity of its maize flour plant and purchase a refrigerated distribution van for its meat processing venture.

Sixty-five thousand smallholder farmers who supply Rwandan agribusiness Yak Fair Trade will benefit from the company’s growth; consumers of Yak’s nutritious products will also benefit.
Hub showcases high-quality, affordable apparel to U.S. buyers
The Hub supported four companies from Madagascar and Mauritius to connect with U.S. buyers at the recent Apparel Textile Sourcing show in Miami. The show attracts numerous mid-size buyers who are interested in the smaller-volume capacity that many East African companies offer. The Hub's apparel advisor was pleased with the number of the linkages that the companies were able to develop and expects that those linkages will lead to orders.

Learn more about the four companies that the Hub supported by clicking on the brochure to the right.

You can also find promising East African apparel-producing companies by visiting our Apparel Suppliers Database .

Where we work
The East African Community countries - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda - and, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Mauritius.

East Africa Trade and Investment Hub |  info@eatradehub.org  |  www.eatradehub.org