TUESDAY March 7, 2023
By The Tranquility News Reporter, Tanzania
The Tanzania President, Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, has provided the East African Business Council (EABC) with a plot of land in the tourist and diplomatic city of Arusha for the council to construct its headquarters.
Dr Samia already has handed over title deed for the three-hectare (12,355 square metres) plot Number 4/2 situated at Mateves area in the city to the EABC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr John Bosco Kalisa.
“The Chairperson of the Board, management and membership of the EABC applauds H.E. President Samia Suluhu Hassan for donating and handing over the land to the council,” says the council in a statement issued by Mr Kalisa over the weekend, adding:
“This is a testimony of the great leadership of President Samia Suluhu Hassan in promoting the role of the private sector as the engine for socio-economic growth in the EAC (East African Community) region. This will go a long way in enabling the EABC in executing its mandate as the voice of the private sector in East Africa and driving the vision of a borderless East Africa for business and investment.”
EABC is a regional apex body for private sector associations and corporates from seven East African Community (EAC) partner states, namely Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. It was established in 1997 to foster interest of the sector in integration process of the bloc.
The council believes promoting a sustainable private-driven growth will ultimately see a borderless region for business and investment.
Meanwhile, the council’s Goodwill Ambassador, Ms Mary Ngechu, has pleaded with the EAC Secretariat to consider developing a framework for the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) to engage with the Council of Ministers.
Ms Ngechu, who paid a courtesy call on the EAC Secretary General along with Country Manager for PET plastic recycling in Kenya, Ms Joyce Gachugi, and Mr Kalisa, said the region called for SMEs champions at country level to amplify their agenda and fast track review and implementation of their charter.
She observed that quality, access to market and complex requirements were among setbacks preventing SMEs from harnessing trade and investment opportunities stipulated in the EAC Common Market Protocol.
Ms Gachugi urged the EAC Secretariat, in turn, to formulate a green fiscal policy to encourage the private sector to invest in waste collection and recycling as Kenya did.
Kenya had developed Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations and Sustainable Waste Management Act that had enabled recycling practices to rise from 9 per cent in 2017 to 36 per cent in 2022.
“Waste collection provides decent jobs as the market for waste collection in Kenya alone stands at $1.5 million,” she explained.
Mr Kalisa expounded that the EABC envisioned to be a centre for data management on circular economy and that the council had set up a climate change committee to champion issues of environment and sustainable developmentΩ
