Following the banning of imported textiles, the Government of Rwanda introduced the “Made in Rwanda” policy in 2015 to encourage local domestic markets and the citizens of the country to buy Rwandan-made products. This thesis evaluates the impact of the import restrictions or the “Made in Rwanda” policy on the Rwandan people so far. An exploratory study on the Rwandan fashion and textile industries is portrayed to understand potential stakeholders’ perspectives overshadowing the growth of local domestic businesses. A literature review of the textile industry in the African context was conducted before gathering five interview participants to participate in the study. Two fashion houses, one apparel manufacturing company, and two local tailors were interviewed for this study. A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) was used to analyze the data collected during the interviews. The findings of this thesis show that the end of secondhand clothing has resulted in people not being able to afford Rwandan-made garments. “Made in Rwanda” textiles are perceived as not affordable for everyone and have bad quality. Furthermore, this thesis opens the conversation about the new activities of Chinese firms relocating to Rwanda for a transfer of knowledge and technologies, but this perception could be misguided. This thesis thus seeks to start a conversation on identifying areas from improvements in the policy and challenges faced by local markets and consumer activity in the industry after the introduction of the import restriction.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The three East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have a long history of economic co-operation, which at one time amounted close to political integration. Their present co-operation arrangement is known as the East African Community (the new East African Community), but is one that remains susceptible to failure if conscious and purposeful steps are not timely adopted to facilitate their integration. A number of reasons have been attributed to the failure and eventual demise of the old East African Community. These reasons include, the unequal distribution of gains and costs amongst the partner states, perceptions and impressions on reaching conclusions about the distribution of those gains and costs, the heavy internal and external debt burdens that the three countries experienced in different degrees, differing political ideologies amongst the political leaderships of the three countries, unwillingness to cede government authority to the Community, and the absence of sufficient possibilities for cost reduction shifts in the industrial sector amongst the three countries. The above meant that there was little chance for potential economies of scale. While the recognition of the value of past experiences forms an important aspect of a future strategy for the Community, prevailing and anticipated circumstances are more relevant. This study project seeks to establish the chances for the success or failure of the new East African Community by means of an analysis of the historical passage of East African co-operation, in particular the former official arrangement of 1967-1977 and scrutiny of the system underlying the present arrangement. The differences and similarities of the two systems are then extrapolated and the likely effects that those differences and similarities will impart upon the new East African Community are investigated. Finally, the ways and means identified as a possible easing of the shortcomings are advanced as recommendations. One outstanding development in the existence of the new East African Community so far has been the pursuance to establish an East African Federation in the shortest possible timeframe. In the new East African Community's formative treaty the objective of achieving a political federation is declared to be the ultimate objective. It would appear that the concept of "shortest possible time" was partly interpreted by those mandated to explore the possibilities as relating to the timeframe during which the existing political leadership would still be functioning. The study has, however, concluded that the fast tracking of the political federation is one of the possible serious threats to the sustainability and longevity of the new East African Community. Likewise, membership of other regional integration arrangements by the partner states of the Community - without a concrete formally agreed common mechanism to deal with the ensuing conflicts of interest - is considered to be a weakness. The study recommends a number of preconditions necessary for the smooth transition to a political federation that would not compromise the positive prospects of the Community. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die drie Oos-Afrikalande Kenia, Tanzanië en Uganda het 'n lang geskiedenis van ekonomiese samewerking wat op 'n stadium feitlik op politieke integrasie neergekom het. Hulle huidige integrasiereëling staan as die Oos- Afrikagemeenskap (die Gemeenskap) bekend, maar dit bly vatbaar vir mislukking indien bewuste en doelgerigte stappe nie betyds gedoen word om hulle integrasie te bevorder nie. 'n Aantal redes is aangevoer vir die mislukking en uiteindelike verval van die ou Oos-Afrikagemeenskap. Hierdie redes sluit onder andere in die oneweredige verspreiding van winste en kostes tussen die vennootskapslande, persepsies en indrukke oor besluite rakende die verdeling van genoemde winste en kostes, die kwaai binne- en buitelandse skuldlaste wat die drie lande in wisselende mate ervaar het, verskillende politieke ideologieë tussen die politieke leierskappe van die drie lande, 'n onwilligheid om regeringsgesag na die Gemeenskap oor te dra en die afwesigheid van genoegsame moontlikhede vir kosteverminderingstappe in d ie nywerheidsektor tussen die drie lande. Die bovermelde het beteken dat daar min geleentheid vir potensiële groot ekonomieë was. Alhoewel die erkenning van die waarde van ervarings uit die verlede 'n belangrike aspek van 'n toekomstige strategie vir die Gemeenskap uitmaak, is heersende en verwagte omstandighede meer relevant. Hierdie studieprojek poog om by wyse van 'n analise van die historiese verloop van samewerking in Oos- Afrika en in die besonder van die vorige amptelike reëling tussen 1967 tot 1977 en 'n ondersoek van die stelsel wat die huidige reëling onderlê, vas te stel wat die kanse is op die sukses of mislukking van die nuwe Oos-Afrikagemeenskap. Die verskille en ooreenkomste tussen die twee stelsels word dan geëkstrapoleer en die verwagte gevolge wat daardie verskille en ooreenkomste op die nuwe Oos-Afrikagemeenskap gaan uitoefen, word ondersoek. Laastens word die middele wat geïdentifiseer is as 'n moontlike verligting van die tekortkominge, as aanbevelings voorgehou. Een van die opvallende ontwikkelings in die nuwe Oos-Afrikagemeenskap is die nastrewing van die doel om 'n Oos-Afrikafederasie binne die kortste moontlike tyd tot stand te bring. In die Gemeenskap se stigtingsooreenkoms is gekonstateer dat die uiteindelike doelwit die bereiking van 'n politieke federasie is. Dit wil voorkom asof die konsep "die kortste moontlike tyd" gedeeltelik só geïnterpreteer is dat dit na die tydsraamwerk verwys waartydens die huidige politieke leierskap steeds die leisels sou hou. Die studie het egter tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die vinnige pas vir die totstandkoming van die politieke federasie een van die moontlike ernstige bedreigings vir die volhoubaarheid en langdurige voortbestaan van die nuwe Oos-Afrikagemeenskap is. Op soortgelyke wyse word lidstate van die Gemeenskap se lidmaatskap van ander streeksreëlings - sonder die bestaan van 'n konkrete formeelooreengekome gesamentlike meganisme om aandag te skenk aan voortspruitende belangekonflikte - as 'n swakheid beskou. Die studie beveel 'n aantal voorwaardes aan wat noodsaaklik is vir die gladde oorgang na 'n politieke federasie wat nie die positiewe vooruitsigte van die Gemeenskap in die gedrang sal bring nie.

This thesis attempts to show that, although it is in the interest of regional common market organizations to regulate foreign direct investment, such regulation will probably be unsuccessful unless the regulations are lenient to business and are not used as instruments of major political goals. The east African Community, the Andean Common Market, and the European Economic Community are examined. Research sources used were United States government publications, documents from the common markets involved, United Nations and International Monetary Fund statistics, articles from major political science and business journals, and books.

<p>The tri-partite initiative in and for Africa has been accompanied by high levels of optimism since its political endorsement in 2008. It provides for an opportunity to resolve a host of problems with regards to regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The overall aim of this study is to explore the prospects and challenges towards realising the Tri-partite Free Trade Area&nbsp / (T-FTA) in and for Africa. This study is pragmatic and implicitly seeks to uncover how the T-FTA could contribute to the African Regional Integration Project (ARIP), given the challenges that&nbsp / regional integration face in Africa. Regional integration has a long and rich history in Africa, which started at thehave been weak since the start and persist in its superficial nature with littledevelopmental impact. The reasons for the lack of meaningful integration in Africa are wide-ranging and span national, regional and system level analytical viewpoints. They encompass&nbsp / areas such as developmental levels, political will, respect for regional architecture, overlapping membership and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). These factors impact on the&nbsp / integration process in Africa and explain in varied ways why there has been little comprehensive economic integration. The starting point was to define the complex concept of regional integration. The dominant factors that define and affect regional integration in this study are that it is a state-based exercise, driven by economic integration, and influenced by the global political economy of the day. It was determined that Africa has adapted its regional integration strategies according to the shifts and influences in the global political economy on states,&nbsp / emanating from the post WWII period to the present day. The mpact of the global economy on Africa since independence was great and is viewed impact on the integration process. Regional integration is essentially a state to state&nbsp / pursuit for integration. Essentially, regional integration is being pursued by states that are still struggling to consolidate statehood, and this leaves little space to move towards a regional approach. However, given the dynamics of a globalised world, regional integration as a strategy is no longer questioned in Africa and is an important component of its developmental agenda. Clarifying the T-FTA was important, and this was done in order to highlight what the tri-partite initiative is and is not. This provided for an opportunity to&nbsp / investigate what the dominant areas are that have informed the emergence of the tri-partite process. The former was found to be largely economic in nature, focusing on harmonising the trade&nbsp / regimes of COMESA, EAC and SADC as a primary motivation. The tri-partite initiative will facilitate and encourage the harmonisation of trade regimes by stressing market integration,&nbsp / infrastructure development and industrialisation, coupled by a developmental approach. This is promising, as the tri-partite initiative seeks to simultaneously deal with many issues that have&nbsp / been commonly associated with the problems that regional integration face in Africa. When viewing the negotiating context, as well as the principles upon which it is to be based, indicate though, that Africa still favours individual state interest that will be hard to reconcile given that the tri-partite region currently has 26 participant states. In terms of economic integration, the T-FTA&nbsp / seeks to put new generation trade issues on the agenda by including services, movement of persons as well as trade facilitation, all of which have been found to be important in realising a&nbsp / trade in goods agenda that is the focus of regional integration in Africa. Analysing the grassroots realities of the market integration pillar offered some valuable insights towards the purposes&nbsp / of this study. The market integration pillar is inundated with challenges, with Rules of Origin (RoO) being the primary challenge towards consolidating the trade in goods agenda on a tri-partite&nbsp / level. New generation trade issues are going to be equally difficult to realise, given that they have no implementation record in the individual Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Promising though is that trade facilitation has already seen positive results by resolving non tariff barriers in the regions.Infrastructure development is equally challenging, although it provides&nbsp / a significant opportunity to create better connectivity (physical integration) between states. In lot of pan-African goals that directly feed into initiatives of the African Union (AU) pillar has not as yet created any concrete tri-partite plans, so it remains to be seen what can be achieved. Ideally, industrialisation is viewed as the pillar that will solve the supply-side constraints of African&nbsp / economies hence, strengthening the trade in goods agenda in the regions. Even though the T-FTA has practical challenges to implementation, there are at least two underlying factors that&nbsp / indirectly affect the prospects of realising the tripartite initiative. The EPAs are an emergent threat in that they run parallel to tripartite negotiations / and respect for a rules based integration process, are issues that warrant consideration. Fundamentally, in order to achieve a successful T-FTA will require a shift in the way business is done in African integration. African states need&nbsp / to realise that their national interests are best served through cooperation, in meaningful ways. Inevitably this requires good faith as well as ceding some sovereignty towards regional goals. Thus, there is a risk that the T-FTA not realised. The fundamentals of political will, economic polarisation and instability have to be resolved. This will lay an appropriate foundation for the&nbsp / tripartite initiative to be sustainable, with developmental impact. </p>

No description available.

<p>The tri-partite initiative in and for Africa has been accompanied by high levels of optimism since its political endorsement in 2008. It provides for an opportunity to resolve a host of problems with regards to regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The overall aim of this study is to explore the prospects and challenges towards realising the Tri-partite Free Trade Area&nbsp / (T-FTA) in and for Africa. This study is pragmatic and implicitly seeks to uncover how the T-FTA could contribute to the African Regional Integration Project (ARIP), given the challenges that&nbsp / regional integration face in Africa. Regional integration has a long and rich history in Africa, which started at thehave been weak since the start and persist in its superficial nature with littledevelopmental impact. The reasons for the lack of meaningful integration in Africa are wide-ranging and span national, regional and system level analytical viewpoints. They encompass&nbsp / areas such as developmental levels, political will, respect for regional architecture, overlapping membership and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). These factors impact on the&nbsp / integration process in Africa and explain in varied ways why there has been little comprehensive economic integration. The starting point was to define the complex concept of regional integration. The dominant factors that define and affect regional integration in this study are that it is a state-based exercise, driven by economic integration, and influenced by the global political economy of the day. It was determined that Africa has adapted its regional integration strategies according to the shifts and influences in the global political economy on states,&nbsp / emanating from the post WWII period to the present day. The mpact of the global economy on Africa since independence was great and is viewed impact on the integration process. Regional integration is essentially a state to state&nbsp / pursuit for integration. Essentially, regional integration is being pursued by states that are still struggling to consolidate statehood, and this leaves little space to move towards a regional approach. However, given the dynamics of a globalised world, regional integration as a strategy is no longer questioned in Africa and is an important component of its developmental agenda. Clarifying the T-FTA was important, and this was done in order to highlight what the tri-partite initiative is and is not. This provided for an opportunity to&nbsp / investigate what the dominant areas are that have informed the emergence of the tri-partite process. The former was found to be largely economic in nature, focusing on harmonising the trade&nbsp / regimes of COMESA, EAC and SADC as a primary motivation. The tri-partite initiative will facilitate and encourage the harmonisation of trade regimes by stressing market integration,&nbsp / infrastructure development and industrialisation, coupled by a developmental approach. This is promising, as the tri-partite initiative seeks to simultaneously deal with many issues that have&nbsp / been commonly associated with the problems that regional integration face in Africa. When viewing the negotiating context, as well as the principles upon which it is to be based, indicate though, that Africa still favours individual state interest that will be hard to reconcile given that the tri-partite region currently has 26 participant states. In terms of economic integration, the T-FTA&nbsp / seeks to put new generation trade issues on the agenda by including services, movement of persons as well as trade facilitation, all of which have been found to be important in realising a&nbsp / trade in goods agenda that is the focus of regional integration in Africa. Analysing the grassroots realities of the market integration pillar offered some valuable insights towards the purposes&nbsp / of this study. The market integration pillar is inundated with challenges, with Rules of Origin (RoO) being the primary challenge towards consolidating the trade in goods agenda on a tri-partite&nbsp / level. New generation trade issues are going to be equally difficult to realise, given that they have no implementation record in the individual Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Promising though is that trade facilitation has already seen positive results by resolving non tariff barriers in the regions.Infrastructure development is equally challenging, although it provides&nbsp / a significant opportunity to create better connectivity (physical integration) between states. In lot of pan-African goals that directly feed into initiatives of the African Union (AU) pillar has not as yet created any concrete tri-partite plans, so it remains to be seen what can be achieved. Ideally, industrialisation is viewed as the pillar that will solve the supply-side constraints of African&nbsp / economies hence, strengthening the trade in goods agenda in the regions. Even though the T-FTA has practical challenges to implementation, there are at least two underlying factors that&nbsp / indirectly affect the prospects of realising the tripartite initiative. The EPAs are an emergent threat in that they run parallel to tripartite negotiations / and respect for a rules based integration process, are issues that warrant consideration. Fundamentally, in order to achieve a successful T-FTA will require a shift in the way business is done in African integration. African states need&nbsp / to realise that their national interests are best served through cooperation, in meaningful ways. Inevitably this requires good faith as well as ceding some sovereignty towards regional goals. Thus, there is a risk that the T-FTA not realised. The fundamentals of political will, economic polarisation and instability have to be resolved. This will lay an appropriate foundation for the&nbsp / tripartite initiative to be sustainable, with developmental impact. </p>

Magister Legum - LLM

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

Masters administration (M. Admin) / The tri-partite initiative in and for Africa has been accompanied by high levels of optimism since its political endorsement in 2008. It provides for an opportunity to resolve a host of problems with regards to regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The overall aim of this study is to explore the prospects and challenges towards realising the Tri-partite Free Trade Area (T-FTA) in and for Africa. This study is pragmatic and implicitly seeks to uncover how the T-FTA could contribute to the African Regional Integration Project (ARIP), given the challenges that regional integration face in Africa. Regional integration has a long and rich history in Africa, which started at thehave been weak since the start and persist in its superficial nature with littledevelopmental impact. The reasons for the lack of meaningful integration in Africa are wide-ranging and span national, regional and system level analytical viewpoints. They encompass areas such as developmental levels, political will, respect for regional architecture, overlapping membership and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). These factors impact on the integration process in Africa and explain in varied ways why there has been little comprehensive economic integration. The starting point was to define the complex concept of regional integration. The dominant factors that define and affect regional integration in this study are that it is a state-based exercise, driven by economic integration, and influenced by the global political economy of the day. It was determined that Africa has adapted its regional integration strategies according to the shifts and influences in the global political economy on states, emanating from the post WWII period to the present day. The mpact of the global economy on Africa since independence was great and is viewed impact on the integration process. Regional integration is essentially a state to state pursuit for integration. Essentially, regional integration is being pursued by states that are still struggling to consolidate statehood, and this leaves little space to move towards a regional approach. However, given the dynamics of a globalised world, regional integration as a strategy is no longer questioned in Africa and is an important component of its developmental agenda. Clarifying the T-FTA was important, and this was done in order to highlight what the tri-partite initiative is and is not. This provided for an opportunity to investigate what the dominant areas are that have informed the emergence of the tri-partite process. The former was found to be largely economic in nature, focusing on harmonising the trade regimes of COMESA, EAC and SADC as a primary motivation. The tri-partite initiative will facilitate and encourage the harmonisation of trade regimes by stressing market integration, infrastructure development and industrialisation, coupled by a developmental approach. This is promising, as the tri-partite initiative seeks to simultaneously deal with many issues that have been commonly associated with the problems that regional integration face in Africa. When viewing the negotiating context, as well as the principles upon which it is to be based, indicate though, that Africa still favours individual state interest that will be hard to reconcile given that the tri-partite region currently has 26 participant states. In terms of economic integration, the T-FTA seeks to put new generation trade issues on the agenda by including services, movement of persons as well as trade facilitation, all of which have been found to be important in realising a trade in goods agenda that is the focus of regional integration in Africa. Analysing the grassroots realities of the market integration pillar offered some valuable insights towards the purposes of this study. The market integration pillar is inundated with challenges, with Rules of Origin (RoO) being the primary challenge towards consolidating the trade in goods agenda on a tri-partite level. New generation trade issues are going to be equally difficult to realise, given that they have no implementation record in the individual Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Promising though is that trade facilitation has already seen positive results by resolving non tariff barriers in the regions.Infrastructure development is equally challenging, although it provides a significant opportunity to create better connectivity (physical integration) between states. In lot of pan-African goals that directly feed into initiatives of the African Union (AU) pillar has not as yet created any concrete tri-partite plans, so it remains to be seen what can be achieved. Ideally, industrialisation is viewed as the pillar that will solve the supply-side constraints of African economies hence, strengthening the trade in goods agenda in the regions. Even though the T-FTA has practical challenges to implementation, there are at least two underlying factors that indirectly affect the prospects of realising the tripartite initiative. The EPAs are an emergent threat in that they run parallel to tripartite negotiations; and respect for a rules based integration process, are issues that warrant consideration. Fundamentally, in order to achieve a successful T-FTA will require a shift in the way business is done in African integration. African states need to realise that their national interests are best served through cooperation, in meaningful ways. Inevitably this requires good faith as well as ceding some sovereignty towards regional goals. Thus, there is a risk that the T-FTA not realised. The fundamentals of political will, economic polarisation and instability have to be resolved. This will lay an appropriate foundation for the tripartite initiative to be sustainable, with developmental impact. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM