2022 Q4 saw 8,735 new users access all our regional platforms. This report shows cross-border trader and farmer behaviour insights from Sauti’s mobile information platform based on usage between 1 October to 31 December, 2022.

Sauti Soko is a virtual marketplace platform which farmers and traders can dial to connect with buyers and sellers. Users across East Africa can dial a shortcode (e.g. *716# in Kenya) with any kind of phone, and without the need of internet. The increased accessibility for farmers and traders means that Sauti Soko can improve last-mile connectivity and market access for remote and border populations across East Africa.

In this quarterly report, we have analysed user growth and traders' interactions with the Sauti market and trade information platforms in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda between July - September 2022. 2022 Q3 saw 8,434 new users access all our regional platforms. Our Kenyan platform saw the majority of growth with 7,657 new users, followed by Uganda with 493 new users. Since our Q2 2022 Report, cross-border trade from Tanzania has decreased by 11 percentage points to 10%.

This bulletin includes data on Kenyan, Rwandan, Tanzanian, and Ugandan traders. Although an increase was noted between Q1 and Q2 of 2022, cross-border trading continues to stay low in Kenya in comparison to previous years. In addition, we found that in every other country, cross-border trade decreased between Q1 and Q2, indicating that COVID-19 is likely having persistent effects on the levels of activity within the East African trade sector.

In this quarterly report, we have analysed user growth and traders' interactions with the Sauti market and trade information platforms in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda between April - June 2022. 2022 Q1 saw 6,474 new users access all our regional platforms. Our Kenyan platform saw the majority of growth with 5657 new users, followed by Tanzania with 410 new users. Since our Q3-Q4 2021 Report, trade within domestic markets has increased in Tanzania by 5 percentage points to 86% while the country’s cross-border trade has decreased by 5 percentage points up to 14%.

Up-to-date and representative data on East Africa’s domestic and cross-border traders is difficult to find. Sauti’s new Trade Insights data portal crowdsources data on East Africa’s traders at an unprecedented scale to help researchers, practitioners, and policy makers improve their intervention targeting, program reach, and solution design.

This COVID-19 bulletin aims to illustrate the changing state of trade in East Africa. Leveraging Sauti’s East Africa’s embeddedness with traders, we present the 2021 Q4/2022 Q1 behavioural and user data from our regional network of trade and market information platforms. Reporting in this bulletin includes data on Kenyan, Rwandan, Tanzanian and Ugandan traders. In the case of Tanzania, cross-border trade increased or remained high compared to the last quarter. However, we found that in every other country, cross-border trade decreased or remained low. Cross-border traders' destinations are consistently lower than pre-pandemic levels in Rwanda and Kenya, indicating that COVID-19 is likely having persistent effects on the levels of activity within the East African trade sector.

In this quarterly report, we have analysed user growth and interactions with the Sauti market and trade information platforms in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. 2022 Q1 saw 6,474 new users access all our regional platforms. Our Kenyan platform saw the majority of growth with 5657 new users, followed by Tanzania with 410 new users. Since our Q3-Q4 2021 Report, trade within domestic markets has increased in Tanzania by 5 percentage points to 86% while the country’s cross-border trade has decreased by 5 percentage points up to 14%.

Despite the growth of smartphones among Africa’s urban populations, traders often operate with basic feature phones. This report details findings from Sauti East Africa’s surveys of smartphone access among Kenyan and Ugandan traders. 4,136 participants were surveyed in Kenya and 1,334 in Uganda. Participants were selected from users of Sauti’s market and trade information platform.