ComponentsOur Partners
- Common Market of East and Southern Africa (COMESA)
www.comesa.int - East African Community (EAC)
www.eac.int - East African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA)
www.eafca.org - East African Grain Council (EAGC)
www.eagc.org - African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF)
www.actifafrica.com
COMPETE Consortium Partners
- Chemonics
www.chemonics.com - Crismon Capital
www.crimsoncapital.org - Dexis Consulting Group
www.dexisonline.com - Crimson Capital
- Dexis Consulting Group
- Global Business Solutions
- Integrated Development Consultants
- PRIME International
THE LINK NEWSLETTER
About Us
Who We Are
COMPETE is the Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Program. COMPETE is a regional program that is working to improve trade in East and Central Africa by harmonizing regional trade and transit policies and procedures, developing financial markets, supporting private sector trade associations, developing value chains in staple foods, cotton/textiles, and coffee and building capacity of regional businesses to take advantage of preferential trade opportunities. COMPETE is funded by the US Agency for International Development under the East Africa region.
COMPETE pursues an African, private-sector led reform agenda. COMPETE works with regional trade associations and regional economic communities, USAID bi-lateral missions and other donor initiatives and private sector partners both regional and international.
What We Do
COMPETE is designed to enhance economic growth and food security in Eastern and Central Africa by stimulating increased trade and competitiveness in both regional and global markets. It builds on the success of two earlier USAID programs, the Regional Agriculture and Trade Expansion (RATES) program and the East and Central African Trade Hub (ECA Hub). Currently Africa contributes only 3 percent of the value of goods traded globally. Building capacity in local markets to make them more competitive will help to increase trade in regional and global markets and help to reduce poverty in the region.
In combining the best aspects of the two programs, COMPETE, headquartered in Nairobi, is one part of the USAID/East Africa’s new regional Agriculture, Competitiveness and Trade Activity (ACT). ACT aims to increase trade and competitiveness in regional and global markets by reducing barriers to trade, improving market access, and furthering regional integration. COMPETE works in over 15 countries in East and Central Africa, addressing the constraints and promoting the opportunities available to African companies to increase their competitiveness and trade with the United States and global markets.
Issues We Work On
- Initiative to End Hunger in Africa
- African Growth and Competitiveness Initiative
- Reducing Barriers to Trade
- Increased Competitiveness and Trade in Selected Value Chains
- Increased Trade and Investment in Global Markets
Partnership Fund
The COMPETE Partnership Fund (Grants) Program is designed to fund activities that will help achieve the program’s objectives. These key technical areas are maize/grains, coffee, cotton/textiles, and transport. Grant assistance will be provided to non-governmental institutions, business associations, and training institutions that propose activities that meet COMPETE’s defined eligibility, selection, and evaluation criteria as well as contribute to project results.
The COMPETE approach will build on best practices for grants management and is based on awarding performance-based grants, including cost sharing by the recipients when appropriate. All grants must have a period of performance within the COMPETE contract period: February 11, 2009 – March 1, 2013, subject to USAID funding. Grants will be completed at least three months prior to the COMPETE end date.
