- Vimal Shah Calls for Stronger Regional Value Chains to Unlock AfCFTA Opportunities
Nairobi, Kenya 30th July 2026 – The East African Business Council (EABC), with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) through the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), under the project “Accelerating Sustainable and Inclusive Industrialization in the East African Community (EAC),” kicked off the two-day Business Clinic on Market Access under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for the textile, leather, and edible oil value chains in Kenya.
Speaking during the opening session, Dr. Vimal Shah, Chairperson of the EABC–AfDB Project Steering Committee and Chairman of BIDCO Africa, called on East African businesses and governments to unlock the region’s industrial potential by building more integrated regional value chains to effectively tap into the AfCFTA market of 1.3 billion consumers.
Dr. Shah noted that despite the region’s abundant production potential, East Africa continues to rely heavily on imports of value-added products.
In 2023, EAC Partner States imported raw hides and skins worth USD 6 million while exporting USD 33 million. Meanwhile, global trade in finished leather grew from USD 57 billion in 2005 to USD 99 billion in 2024, yet the EAC captured less than 1% of global leather exports and imported USD 49 million worth of leather goods. In 2023, Apparel exports stood at USD 165 million against imports of USD 338 million, while vegetable oils and fats recorded exports of only USD 277 million compared to imports of USD 1.5 billion.
He commended the African Development Bank for partnering with EABC to strengthen the competitiveness of East African businesses and prepare them to take advantage of opportunities under the AfCFTA.
The textile, leather, and edible oil value chains continue to face challenges including low value addition, limited processing capacity, high production costs, skills gaps, regulatory misalignment, and constrained access to finance.
He called on East Africa’s textile, leather, and edible oil value chain actors to strengthen collaboration and forge a common action plan to improve the business environment, accelerate industrial integration, and enhance access to opportunities under the AfCFTA.
Speaking on behalf of EABC Executive Director Mr. Ahmed Farah, Mr. Adrian R. Njau, EABC Trade & Policy Advisor, noted that EABC as the onboarding agent for the Afreximbank Africa Trade Gateway (ATG), will support companies to join the platform enabling access business-to-business matchmaking opportunities, market intelligence, and trade finance solutions to facilitate trade under the AfCFTA.
The Business Clinic is designed to move businesses from market intelligence to market access by providing practical training on AfCFTA market opportunities, tariff concessions, Rules of Origin, product standards, customs procedures, and export requirements. Participants will also receive one-on-one advisory support on market entry strategies and practical export processes.
The Business Clinic has convened together more than 50 enterprises from the textile, leather, and edible oil value chains in Kenya to enhance their understanding of AfCFTA market access requirements. Entreprises will be equipped with practical knowledge on Rules of Origin, tariff concessions, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), customs procedures, trade facilitation instruments, and export readiness to enable them to expand into African markets.
The EAC Industrialisation Strategy 2012–2032 seeks to increase the local value-added content of resource-based exports from 8.6% to 40% and raise intra-regional manufacturing exports from 5% to 25% by 2032 through stronger regional value chains. The region presents significant investment opportunities, including the need for at least 93 additional weaving mills to meet growing textile demand, while the leather sector captures less than 1% of global leather trade despite the EAC accounting for 4% of the world’s cattle and 6% of its small ruminants. Global trade in raw hides and skins fell from USD 6.2 billion in 2005 to USD 3.3 billion in 2024, and semi-processed leather declined from USD 22 billion to USD 12.4 billion over the same period, while finished leather grew from USD 57 billion to USD 99 billion. According to the ITC Export Potential Map, East African businesses also have substantial untapped export opportunities worth USD 298 million for apparel and textiles in South Africa, USD 63 million for vegetable oils and fats in India, and USD 17 million for leather products in Uganda.
