In East Africa: sustainable packaging for competitivity

A first step bringing us closer to East Afripack 2014 (Nairobi, 9th to 12th September 2014, organized by Ipack-Ima SpA). With the aim to sensitize the local business community, on 3rd and 4th June this year Kigali (Rwanda) hosted the first international conference entitled "Sustainable Packaging for Competitiveness and Development of SME's in the EAC Region".

The initiative was promoted by the same Ipack-Ima SpA, in collaboration with ICE (Italian Trade Promotion Agency) and the Italian Ministry for Economic Development (MISE) and in partnership with the East African Community, UNIDO and the Ministry of Industrialization of Kenya. The interesting economic growthrates in sub-Saharan Africa but aboveall the signs of attention towards quality development all provided a good motivation to inform and gather the local business community around the themes of processing and packaging, as well as the competitive potential within resorting to targeted, cutting-edge technologies.

Development plans. A large and attentive audience took part at the event in Kigali, chaired by Prof. Claudio Peri. All talks wished to underline the importance of packaging as a strategic lever for technological upgrading and competitiveness of local SMEs (in this regard a dedicated paper was later presented in occasion of the CAMI conference that, from June 10th to 14th last, saw the Ministers for industrialisation of the entire African continent gather at Nairobi).

To better understand the innovation drivers and the needs of local industry, Ipack-Ima SpA commissioned UNIDO to carry out a market survey among the most important industrial concerns (food and non-food) operating in the East African countries, namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda. Among the most significant results it emerges that: 63% of respondents intend to plan investments in technology over the next three years to expand their production activities; 78% are planning to upgrade their processing and packaging machine yard in the next 3 years; 70% consider that an improved packaging technology is fundament for the image and the branding of their own products. If in the year 2000 The Economist dedicated its cover to the the African continent under the title “the hopeless continent“, after 11 years they describe the continent with a title that has a totally different ring to it: "Africa Rising". According to UNIDO estimates in the last decade, 6 out of 10 emerging economies featuring the fastest growthrates are African. In 2012 the IMF estimated economic growth of the African continent as being at close to 6%, equal to that in Asia. Finance, distribution, food, transportation and telecommunications all feature as emerging sectors.

East Afripack, 2014, offering an international exhibitive panorama of processing, packaging and converting technologies, is to be held in Nairobi from September 9th to 12th. It is being organized by Ipack-Ima SpA in partnership with UNIDO, EAC and the Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development of the Government of Kenya.