By Guardian Correspondent ,
AT least 40 Tanzanian firms have been equipped with critical knowledge and tools to develop export plans for services, in a move aimed at strengthening the country’s participation in regional and global trade.
Adrian Njau, the East African Business Council (EABC) acting executive director, said here at the weekend that EABC organised the capacity-building workshop on export of services with expertise from the ‘leveraging integration frameworks for trade in services’ project run by the German aid agency, GIZ
The agency worked with the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat in partnership with the European Union delegation in Tanzania, to bring together private sector players and policymakers to address gaps in services trade.
He highlighted the growing importance of the services sector to Tanzania’s economy as services are now the fastest-growing component, contributing 28 to 29 percent of the gross domestic product and generating $6.9b in export earnings in 2025.
The training was designed to provide firms with practical skills on how to develop effective export plans, navigate regulatory frameworks and adopt best practices for trading services within the EAC, the African Continental Free Trade Area and global markets. The initiative is expected to enhance the competitiveness of Tanzanian firms and enable them to tap into emerging opportunities in cross-border services trade, he stated.
Genya Charles, a senior official at the Industry and Trade ministry, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to promoting services exports as a key driver of economic growth, hence the need to build the capacity of local firms to compete beyond national borders by leveraging regional integration frameworks.
Sophia Peter, a financial sector stakeholder with the Tanzania Bankers Association, underscored the relevance of the training as the programme would help member institutions better understand regulatory requirements for offering banking services across borders, particularly within the East African region.
Despite the sector’s potential, small and medium-sized enterprises face significant barriers to exporting services, including regulatory bottlenecks, limited access to market information and weak export strategies.
Broader structural challenges persist across the EAC, such as limited trade data, divergent regulations, restricted market access, and complex licensing, taxation and investment requirements, alongside fragmented permitting systems, she explained.
Through its uplift project, the EABC is working to address these challenges by strengthening the capacity of services firms, with a particular focus on women- and youth-led enterprises. The initiative aims to foster a more inclusive and resilient regional economy by ensuring that smaller firms are not left behind in the expansion of services trade.
In addition, the EABC, in collaboration with business membership organisations has co-developed the Trade in Services Policy Advocacy Agenda 2025–2030, seeking to champion policy reforms, promote regulatory harmonisation and position East Africa as a competitive hub for services trade.
Participants at the workshop also called on EAC partner states to accelerate reforms that would ease cross-border trade in service, with government harmonising regulations and implementing Annex V of the EAC Common Market Protocol.
It commits countries to progressively liberalise services sectors, while demanding that EAC members fast-track the adoption of Annex VII on the mutual recognition of academic and professional qualifications.
Over the two-day training, participating firms are being guided through the fundamentals of service exports, including regulatory compliance, market entry strategies and identifying opportunities in public and private sector spheres such as tenders and partnerships.
The programme also incorporates interactive case studies and group work to support the development of sector-specific export plans while beyond the workshop, the uplift project reinforces support through tailored one-on-one coaching sessions for firms, focusing on market access, regulatory navigation and export strategy development, she specified.
Stakeholders expressed optimism that such targeted interventions will help unlock the full potential of Tanzania’s services sector, enabling firms to expand regionally and globally, thus contributing to sustained economic growth.
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