Doing business in Kenya and Tanzania: updates regarding COVID-19

• On the 6th of July 2020 President Uhuru Kenyatta announced in his Presidential Address:
  • Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera lock down ended effective 07 July. The Nationwide curfew from 21:00 to 04:00hrs is extended for another 30 days until 05/08/2020.
  • Local air travel is to resume on 15 July and international travel on 01 August.
  • Political and other social gatherings remain suspended for 30 days until 05/08/2020. Restaurants, bars and pubs continue take-away services.
• The Ministry of Labour has issued guidelines for Post COVID-19 Return to Work – find the guidelines here.
• The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority released protocols for air travel operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information see this attachment.
• In anticipation of the official set up and under the supervision of the Board of the Netherlands Business Hub in Kenya, NL Business in East Africa (NLbEA) is organizing a series of interactive webinars about “Post Corona Business in Kenya”. If interested you can contact NLbEA directly by e-mail at info@nlbea.com.
• The Kenya Ports Authority public notice on the use of inland container depots in Nairobi and Naivasha. Find more details in this attachment.
• PharmAccess, Maseno University and the County Government of Kisumu launched COVIDConnect, a self-assessment App for COVID-19. Users are required to sign up and record their symptoms such as fever, cough, breathing rate, sore throat etc., after which a team of medical doctors will evaluate the user symptoms and provide them with the required medical support. You can find more details here: COVIDConnect mobile app.
• Kenya’s foreign direct investment inflows fell to $294 million (KES31.3 billion) last year. Annual estimates by a UN agency show, partly reflecting depressed growth in new jobs that has been worsened by COVID-19. For more information see the World Investment Report published by UNCTAD.
• Kenya's trade deficit drops with KES 33.6 billion in the first four months of 2020. Find more in this article in the Business Daily.
• The Kenya Revenue Authority has paid Sh25 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds to businesses following a presidential order. Read more here.
• Kenya has introduced the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE). The mandate of the Federation is to represent the interests of employers mainly in social and labour policy at the national, regional and international level within the tripartite labour structure, which includes the government, trade unions and employers. FKE’s commitment is to ensure that employers benefit from the services offered mainly in the areas of Policy Advocacy, For more, read brochure; member benefits.
• The Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development has published Guidelines for Business operations during COVID-19. The Guidelines are aimed at allowing businesses to reopen, whilst strictly observing the required measures they have to put in place to mitigate the spread of the virus. Businesses are expected to derive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) from the guidelines and implement these in addition to the various Coronavirus containment measures pronounced by the Ministry of Health. You can find the Guideline here.
• The following instruments have published a Call for Applications:
  • The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has opened a Fund Against Child Labour for international Dutch companies that want to end child labour in their value chain (deadline for application is 5 November 15:00 CET 2020) – See more here.
  • The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has opened a Fund for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) for Dutch partnerships (deadline for application is 30 September 2020 12:00 CET) - See more here.
  • A Kickstart voucher is available for internationally active companies in the Netherlands. With this voucher an external advisor can be hired to support your company to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on your company. See more here.
  • Kenya Climate Innovation Center in partnership with Gatsby Africa’s Kenya Commercial Forestry Programme (KCFP), is inviting applications from startups and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the commercial forestry value chain into a one-year incubation programme (deadline 24th July 2020) – See more here.
  • The Future For Nature Foundation is searching worldwide for young, talented, and ambitious conservationists for the prestigious Future For Nature Awards 2021 (deadline 15th September 2020) – See more here.

Tanzania: Update 10 July 2020

• The Government of Tanzania has shared no updates on the number of corona cases since 29 April 2020.
• The Netherlands business community adopted, with full support from the government, a strategy for enhancing trade and investment in Africa. Tuesday 14 July 2020 the Netherlands Embassy in Tanzania will have a webinar organized by NABC on how to work on this strategy in Tanzania – Click here for more information or to register.
• Competition for the air-cargo business in Tanzania is set to intensify, with Warnercom Tanzania, a new player, looking to launch the first scheduled cargo-only flights from the country in mid-September - See more in this article in the Citizen.
• The Southern African Development Community Council of Ministers has approved the revised guidelines on harmonization and facilitation of cross-border transport operations during the COVID-19 period. – See more in this article in the Daily News.
• KLM and Emirates are to resume their operations in Tanzania. See more in this article in the Citizen.
• It is estimated that Tanzania’s foreign direct investment inflows increased by $56 million last year. For more information see the World Investment Report published by UNCTAD.
• The following instruments have published a Call for Applications:
  • The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has opened a Fund Against Child Labour for international Dutch companies that want to end child labour in their value chain (deadline for application is 5 November 15:00 CET 2020) – See more here.
  • The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has opened a Fund for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) for Dutch partnerships (deadline for application is 30 September 2020 12:00 CET) - See more here.
  • A Kickstart voucher is available for internationally active companies in the Netherlands. With this voucher an external advisor can be hired to support your company to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on your company. See more here.
  • The Future For Nature Foundation is searching worldwide for young, talented, and ambitious conservationists for the prestigious Future For Nature Awards 2021 (deadline 15th September 2020) – See more here.

Read more about the situation in Kenya and Tanzania at www.agroberichtenbuitenland.nl