Welcome to the Swedish East African Chamber of Commerce!

Trade with East Africa
Relations between Sweden and eastern Africa go back at least 50 years. Eastern Africa or for the purpose of this letter, East Africa, is made up by Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda who have formed a political/commercial union, the East African Community (EAC).
EAC has a strong ambition to develop through trade rather than aid and has therefore an agenda to appear as a strong and desirable partner to the developed countries in other parts of the world

• 2005 a customs union was established
• 2010 a common market has been established
• 2010 free movement of labour and services is gradually being introduced
• Federation proposed by 2015

EAC is a market of 130 million inhabitants and has had a BNP growth of 7-8% in the first decade of the 2000 millenium

Many Swedish companies are already established in the region and are enjoying success. Competition today is rather weak as all too many companies are focusing on markets in Asia.
The economy is mainly based on agriculture but there is ample opportunity to trade and invest in other businesses. EAC welcomes newcomers with generous benefits
Quality of life is high. People are exceedingly friendly. Climate is pleasant. Time zone the same as Sweden. Tourism is exciting. Schools are good.

Grants and development aid are only two of the stimulants to the economic develop-ment. Trade is probably the strongest driver. A group of Swedish business people saw the need to offer their services on a pro bono basis to act as a sounding wall for the EAC embassies and as a network for business people wishing to establish business links with EAC countries. This group has now been active for some 3 years and has now decided to go one step further and have formed a Swedish-East African Chamber of Commerce (SWEACC)
SWEACC has no ambition to compete with existing bodies offering services to the business community.

This chamber will be a platform for networking between business people interested in trade with EAC. It will be event driven i e offer interesting opportunities for its members to meet and to listen to informative presentations around current matters

Past Events

H E Ambassador Muhammed Mzale of Tanzania was a guest of SWEACC at a breakfast meeting on 2 april and addressed some 20 members of the chamber. Ambassador Mzale focused on the business opportunities available in Tanzania to Swedish business people and highlighted three areas: Energy, mining and infrastucture. Read the full speech by clicking here