What a troubled supermarket teaches us about integration

Burundi continues to be a source of sad news with pictures of dead bodies littering the streets often after a night of terror. The pictures always show up on my Twitter and Facebook timeline thanks to the Burundians and friends of Burundi I follow. Some of them have been accused of sharing gross images and yet I feel those condemning them just do not want to face the bitter truth that a country in our region is broken and needs fixing. We did pay some attention to Burundi just before elections, the coup and once elections were over we went back to living our own lives. Once in a while some space is found in our papers for a story about Burundi, like when a prominent person is killed. Often the story is sourced from a news wire service belonging to the Chinese, Americans or Europeans. In short, if it doesn’t affect us then it is not such a big deal, or so we think. From the time the East African Community became a family of five I have on countless occasions pointed out that we need to sustain and invest our interest in what happens within the region beyond the EAC summits. This is not just because we are a community but because in one way or another it does affect us and thus matters. The regional business world which took the lead as far as integration is concerned, continues to be a source of harsh reminders on the need to peep into our neighbours’ yards every now and then. The other day Imperial Bank in Kenya got into trouble with the Central Bank of Kenya. It seemed like a small Kenyan matter until Bank of Uganda swiftly took over administration of Imperial Bank in Uganda “to protect depositors.” Judging from the comments on social media, many Ugandans (including yours truly) did not even know there was a bank called Imperial in Kampala leave alone its links to the Kenyan one. This is mainly because we hardly take interest in what happens in other EAC countries beyond front page news and if we do, we rarely connect the dots. The biggest story though has been that of Uchumi Supermarket. This Kenyan retail chain was one of the pioneers of regional expansion once the EAC took shape. It opened a store in Uganda long before its rivals like Nakumatt and Tuskys had crossed the border. They did the same in Tanzania and were in advanced stages of opening a store in Kigali as well. Right now, Uchumi has found itself on the back foot and has had to shut down all its branches in Tanzania and Uganda as it seeks to stop further financial haemorrhage. Hundreds of East Africans are now jobless and many suppliers are bitter with Uchumi for unpaid invoices for goods and services supplied. About 6 months back, Uchumi (Kenya) was in the news for some financial troubles and I tweeted, wondering whether this would not affect their plans to open shop in a soon to be opened business mall in Kigali. My tweet did not gather much attention because as I mentioned above, we love to assume that what happens miles away in the region does not concern us. Yet it does. The thing is, Uchumi has been limping both home and away and now the whole region is feeling the pinch. Stores have been closed, jobs lost, suppliers are counting losses, expansion put on hold and I am sure the shares have suffered as well given that it is listed on regional bourses. If there is ever a case for us to pay more attention to what happens in the region, then Uchumi is a classic lesson. In less than 10 days, the Tanzanians will be going to the ballot for what is billed to be their closest election ever. Outside Tanzania, a few people are aware that the election is between CCM’s John Pombe Magufuli and CHADEMA (and UKAWA’s) Edward Lowassa. There are other candidates and other issues worth noting about this election but have we thought about the “So what” question? What impact can or will the election have on the four neighbouring EAC countries for example? Has the media in your country found it prudent to cover and break down the story of Tanzania’s ‘road to Ikulu’ (State House)? Whatever your answer, it should be a great pointer of our understanding of regional integration as far as information consumption is concerned.

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What a troubled supermarket teaches us about integration