The 2nd edition of the East African Community (EAC) Regional Quality Awards was held today in Kampala, Uganda.
The EAC Regional Quality Awards are part of a broad effort to promote an embedded quality culture in East African enterprises to ensure business growth while contributing to sustainable development.
The regional awards ceremony featured nominees who emerged as winners from National Quality Award competitions conducted across EAC member states: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The guest of honour Hon. Mwebesa Francis, Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Republic of Uganda urged EAC member states to be intentional about supporting start-ups and MSMEs as an engine for economic growth and increased employment opportunities especially for the youthful population.
“We should be deliberate as the EAC region on boosting the competitiveness of MSMEs to thrive in the marketplace by supporting them to implement quality practices. This will enable us to tap into the AfCFTA continental market valued at GDP of US$2.9 trillion and with a huge market of over 1.4 billion consumers,” he said.
Organized by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and hosted by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), the EAC Regional Quality Awards are supported through the second phase of the European Union (EU)-EAC Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP II), funded by the EU.
EAC Deputy Secretary General, Customs, Trade and Monetary Affairs Ms Annette Mutaawe Ssemuwemba speaking on the occasion said, “Quality lies at the heart of competitiveness. The ceremony is a testament to the diversity and resilience of our community. We are grateful to the support of the European Union to the MARKUP II program. With a collective commitment to culture of quality, we can unluck the potential of our region.”
The UNBS Executive Director, Eng. James Kasigwa revealed that as Uganda transitions from National Development Plan (NDP) III to NDP IV, which strongly roots for supporting MSMEs, UNBS is currently implementing a new value proposition aimed at growing quality MSMEs to enhance competitiveness of their products on the market through Export promotion, import substitution and Industrialization. “Our new value proposition of growing quality MSMEs means that UNBS will handhold MSMEs to meet standards, increase productivity and employment opportunities for the social economic development of Uganda and the EAC member states. This is because the more we grow quality MSMEs, the more the economy and the region grows,” Eng. Kasigwa said.
Executive Director of the East African Business Council (EABC), Mr. Adrian Njau, Ag. noted that the EAC Quality Awards exemplify the shared vision of fostering a robust quality culture across the East African Community. Previous studies conducted by EABC have shown that when products comply with standards, it results in regional excellence, an increase in intra-EAC trade by more than 10%, reduced border clearance time to half a day, and enhanced global competitiveness. These awards provide an invaluable platform for enterprises particularly MSMEs to showcase their commitment to quality, embrace innovation, and overcome barriers to market access.
The awards aim to celebrate excellence in quality, featuring categories such as Company of the Year, Service Company of the Year, and Product of the Year, with recognition given at both the MSME and Large Enterprise (LE) levels.
