7th April 2026, Arusha, Tanzania:- The East African Business Council (EABC) participated in the SMEs Summit & Investment Expo 2026 held under the theme: “Accelerating SME Growth, Investment Readiness, and International Trade & Market Linkages.”
EABC Executive Director, Mr. Ahmed Farah, took part in a panel discussion on “How SMEs Can Practically Benefit from EAC, AfCFTA, and Regional Market Access.” The session explored key challenges faced by SMEs in regional trade and practical solutions to enhance their participation, with a focus on supporting women entrepreneurs to scale and succeed across borders.
In his remarks, Mr. Farah highlighted key barriers affecting SMEs, including limited access to market information and standards, inadequate working capital, compliance challenges such as packaging and certification, infrastructure and distribution inefficiencies, as well as high transport costs and inconsistent regulatory frameworks. Watch Video
He further emphasized the importance of collaboration as a pathway to competitiveness, noting that SMEs can benefit significantly from working together through clusters, business associations, and export consortia. He highlighted that such collaboration enables businesses to share critical services, including warehousing, certification, transport, packaging, and market intelligence, thereby reducing costs and improving their ability to compete regionally.
Mr. Farah also pointed to strong regional demand and export opportunities in sectors such as manufactured goods, construction materials, food products, cosmetics, and household items. However, he noted that many SMEs remain underprepared due to gaps in financing, capacity, and market readiness.
He called for targeted interventions to strengthen SME competitiveness, improve access to finance, and enhance regional market linkages to fully unlock the potential of SMEs within the EAC and AfCFTA frameworks.
