The East African Community is deepening and widening cooperation among its 5member states: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Spurred by the need to expand markets, boost competitiveness and attract investment, East African economies have continued to take steps to make it easier for firms to start up and operate. Continuous improvement of the business environment is important for countries seeking to benefit from increased trade and investment through regional integration. How easy or difficult it is to start and run a business, and how efficient courts and insolvency proceedings are, can influence how quickly firms are able to seize new opportunities.

Opportunities are expanding in the East African Community, which has achieved strong growth in the past 2 decades. Since 2005 its member states have grown faster on average than the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, with annual per capita growth averaging close to 4 percent. Yet significant differences remain among East African economies. Deeper regional integration could help achieve economies of scale and allow the East African Community to compete more efficiently in the global economy. Properly implemented, a larger single market could turn around the systematic under investment in the East African Community and expand its economy.

Regional integration is already advancing: the founding members of the East African Community (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) entered into a customs union arrangement, effective in 2005, that established a common external tariff. While implementation of the customs union is still under way, the expanded East African Community (with Burundi and Rwanda) signed a common market protocol in November 2009, which entered into force in July 2010. Based on the model of European integration, this protocol is aimed at establishing a common market with free movement of people, goods, services and capital. The member states are now negotiating a protocol for establishing the East African Monetary Union.

The First Annual East African Business Summit and Expo on 20th July 2012 is intended to bring together business men and women from the five East African countries and the SADC region to showcase what opportunities for investment exist in the respective countries and also give companies from East Africa an opportunity to grow business linkages with other South African companies so as to be able to have access to the market. The event will cover all aspects of trade in the region and aims at attracting businessmen and women already operating in East Africa and those planning on gaining access. It will explore opportunities and challenges of doing business and investing in East Africa as a region and provide a networking platform for potential investors to meet with the key players in the region.

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Event Purpose:

The East African Business Summit and Expo is focused at availing a strong platform to exhibit and bring to light opportunities and challenges for business men and women, companies, governments interested in investing and exploring investment opportunities that exist in the East African region. It aims at highlighting the largely untapped East African Market with a total population of over 100 Million people.

The Event

The event is a platform intended to bring together business people both from the private and Government sectors in East Africa, South Africa and the SADC region as a whole. This will also serve as an opportunity for business men and women considering entering and investing in the East African region to gain valuable insight and knowledge of the workings of the trade in the region and also build valuable contacts.

Through the event, we will be able to showcase East Africa as a whole as a viable investment and business tourism destination. The event aims at attracting over 400 delegates and 50 exhibitors. The exhibitors will include 25 South African and SADC companies operating in the region and 5 companies from each of the East African Countries looking for access to the SADC market. It will also explore better business management methods and practices to improve productivity. There will also be breakaway room sessions covering areas such as Mining, Agriculture, Tourism, Telecommunications/IT, Real Estate, Manufacturing and Finance. These breakaway sessions will give participants a deeper understanding of the different sectors.

The event is scheduled to take place on 20th July 2012 at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton starting at 08:30hrs till 18:00 hrs.

Expected participants will include the following;

1. Investment/Tourism Authorities of the 5 East African Countries

2. SADC companies operating in the East African region

3. Business Men and Women considering and looking for investment opportunities in the region

4. Chamber of Commerce groups

5. General Public

Event Expectations

Business:

The Summit and Expo will provide a well structured networking opportunity between key players and stake holders in the region. This will be through the various breakaway events that will be organized and presented to participants. This based on the premise that people do business with other people and not companies. The expo will provide a platform for exhibitors and visitors to explore what business opportunities exist in the region as a whole. Face to face interaction will therefore be an integral part of the Summit and Expo.

East African Show Case:

The summit will exhibit what attractions the region offers and what the individual member posses that makes them different from each other. The different countries will be given a platform to market their potential to visitors at the mini expo. The expo will include service providers in the leisure and hospitality industries such as hotels and tour guides.

Cultural Exchange:

There will be a showcase of the different cultures and traditions from East Africa to bring a better understanding of the people and society as a whole. There will also be presentations of activities such as song and dance on what makes East Africa a special destination. This will serve as an even better platform for the different tourism bodies in the region to showcase their attractions.

The East African Business Summit and Expo 2012 is the first of its kind on the African continent to solely dedicate an entire summit and expo to stake holders in the East African region and promote the East African region as a preferred and desirable investment destination. It is a great opportunity to explore business and develop business linkages with Africa as a whole. The Summit and Expo will also act as a bridge between private sectors both from East Africa and elsewhere.