East Africa Trade & Market Intelligence
Exactly who buys your product, what it costs to land, who you are really up against, and whether the numbers work, built for your specific brief and delivered in 48 hours.
Current trade, regulatory, and cost data, scoped to your exact product and corridor. See a real sample report →
Our Services
Choose the level of engagement that matches your decision. The first two tiers deliver intelligence and strategy. The third executes in the market alongside you.
A research-built report created for your exact brief: market sizing, named competitors, the full regulatory pathway, landed-cost structure, and a week-by-week entry plan.
Continuous intelligence on a rolling annual basis. Every month you receive a full Insight GTM Report rebuilt around where you currently stand, plus a detailed Monthly Corridor Briefing covering everything that moved on your corridor and sector: duties, logistics, currency, demand, competitors, risks and opportunities. 24 deliverables across the year.
A dedicated specialist on your corridor from day one, alongside the full report and a financial model built on your real numbers. We are onboarding our first advisory cohort now.
Request early accessThe full report plus a dedicated specialist on your case from Day 1. We validate your cost and volume assumptions on a Day-5 call, so the financial model delivered on Day 12 is built on your real numbers, not assumptions.
Four complete Expert Advisory engagements per year, one each quarter. Every engagement builds on the previous - your business history, priorities, and market context are carried in full across every cycle. Includes the full Insight Annual plan: 12 monthly Insight GTM Reports and 12 Monthly Corridor Intelligence Updates. Priority scheduling throughout.
A done-for-you 90-day programme, taken on selectively. Tell us about your corridor and we will reach out when a slot opens.
Apply for a slotWe don't hand you a strategy and leave, we execute one. We enter the market on your behalf: distributor outreach, regulatory filings, your first commercial meetings, and the trading infrastructure to actually operate. One milestone, agreed upfront. Miss it in 90 days, 50% back.
Compare
| Report$199 · one-time | Advisory$2,499 | Executionfrom $7,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Research report | Advisory engagement | Done-for-you execution |
| Turnaround | 48 hours | Day 1-12 | 90-day programme |
| Market data, duties & regulations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Named competitors & distributors | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 90-day entry plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (executed) |
| Custom financial model | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| Strategy calls with your specialist | - | 3 calls | Ongoing |
| Direct specialist access | - | 30 days | Full programme |
| We execute on the ground | - | - | ✓ |
| Draft to approve + unlimited revisions (21 days) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Best for | Validating a market | Committing to a corridor | Entering & operating |
| Get Report | Request early access | Apply for a slot |
The Insight GTM Report
A research report built for your exact product and market. It is research, not a financial model.
You review a draft before we deliver the finished work, so you are never paying blind. Tell us what to sharpen and we revise it for you, with unlimited revisions for 21 days, until the report matches your brief, at no extra cost.
And if, after we have revised it, the report still does not address your stated brief, we issue a refund backstop: up to 50% on an Insight GTM Report, up to 50% on an Expert Advisory engagement, and 50% on an Execution Mandate, requested within 25 days of delivery. Email us, tell us what we missed, and we will make it right.
We would rather show you the work than quote a client. Read a complete sample report in the exact format we deliver, with the trade data, the duty and clearing costs, the regulatory steps, the distributor landscape, and a 90-day plan laid out in full. Read it closely. Then decide whether this is the standard you want behind your own move.
Read the full sample reportYou see a draft and sign off on it before the finished report is delivered, so you never commit blind. Tell us what to sharpen and we revise it for you, with unlimited revisions for 21 days, until it matches your brief, at no extra cost. If, after we have revised it, the report still does not address your stated brief, you receive up to 50 percent of your fee back, requested within 25 days of delivery. You tell us what we missed, and we settle it.
Generic research tells you East Africa is growing. The report you actually need tells you the exact HS code your product clears under, with the duty and VAT that apply to it. It states whether Kenya requires KEBS approval or Tanzania requires TBS, and how many weeks each takes. The cost to land a container through Mombasa or Dar es Salaam is broken down line by line, not handed to you as a range. Distributors worth a call are named and separated from the ones that will cost you a year. A report that cannot get this specific cannot help you decide.
Every report is assembled from primary sources, not opinion. Bilateral trade flows come from international customs and trade databases. Duty rates, VAT, and clearing requirements come from the current national tariff schedules and the certifying bodies that enforce them. On the origin side, the work draws on the export procedures and trade-finance structures of the major source markets, from DGFT in India to their counterparts in China, the Gulf, and Europe. Distributor and competitor mapping is built from market directories, company records, and import data. Every figure is traceable to its source, and anything that cannot be stood behind is left out.
The Business Case
Most companies that enter East Africa without proper intelligence do not fail dramatically. They fail slowly: wrong distributor, misread duty structure, stalled shipments. By the time the write-off happens, the sunk cost is substantial.
Typical time lost before a company realises the distributor it appointed cannot deliver the volumes promised. By that point, the competing supplier has filled the shelf space.
Conservative estimate of what one misdirected entry attempt costs: travel, product samples, regulatory fees, unsold inventory, and a distributor who has moved on.
The cost of knowing before you move: current duty rates, a shortlist of verified distributors, the all-in cost to land your product, and a 90-day entry plan.
That gap is why the report exists. One engagement costs less than a single transatlantic flight. It replaces months of trial and error with a specific, researched answer to the question you actually need answered.
Get the Report →Coverage
We cover three markets where our research depth, regulatory knowledge, and trade intelligence are sufficient to produce analysis worth acting on.
Our primary market, TBS certification, Dar es Salaam port, distributor and buyer landscape mapping, and the buyer landscape across chemicals, FMCG, pharma, and agri-inputs. Where many clients build their first East African account.
Primary CoverageEast Africa's largest consumer market, KEBS certification, Mombasa port, Nairobi distribution, and the major pharma and FMCG import sectors. Typically the second market after Tanzania.
Primary CoverageA major origin market we cover in depth, DGFT export procedures, EXIM Bank facilities, and the trade-finance structures linking both markets. Our destination expertise remains East Africa.
Source and DestinationWho We Are
Geneva Trade Intelligence produces market-entry intelligence for companies trading into East Africa and other high-growth markets, from any origin: China, India, the Gulf, Turkey, Europe, or the Americas. Every engagement is treated with the rigour of a strategy mandate: current data, your exact situation, and a decision with real money behind it. The companies that succeed in these markets arrive prepared. They know who to call, what the market will accept, and whether the numbers hold. That preparation is the product. Read our approach →
Our Vision
To become the global trade intelligence partner for cross-border trade across every major corridor - the firm serious operators turn to before they move.
How It Works
Tell us your product, target market, company background, and the question you need answered. The more specific your brief, the more actionable your report.
Your report is built from live trade data, current regulatory sources, and your specific inputs. Each section passes through a quality review before finalisation.
Your report arrives by email within 48 hours as a professionally formatted PDF, with a revision request link should any section require adjustment.
Unlimited revisions are included for 21 days at no charge. If any section needs more depth, a different angle, or updated data, submit your feedback and the revised report follows promptly.
Common Questions
48 hours from the moment your payment clears and your brief is confirmed. If you submit your brief at 11am on a Monday and payment confirms the same day, your report lands by 11am Wednesday. We do not count weekends differently; if your brief arrives Friday evening, the 48-hour clock starts then. If for any reason we cannot meet the window on a specific brief, we notify you within the first 12 hours and agree a revised time.
The more specific your brief, the more actionable your report. The minimum we need: your product (with HS code or a clear description), your target market (country and buyer type), and the decision you are trying to make. The more you can tell us about your company size, current export volumes, pricing target, and any specific questions you already have, the less generic the output will be. A brief that says "I want to export textiles to Kenya" produces a different report from one that says "We manufacture 100% cotton woven shirting, 40s count, and want to understand whether modern trade or wholesale distribution is the right first channel in Nairobi, given a CIF target of $1.80/metre."
First, you review a draft before final delivery and we revise it for you, with unlimited revisions for 21 days, until the report matches your brief. If, after we have revised it, the report still does not address what your brief asked, we issue a refund backstop: up to 50% on an Insight GTM Report, 50% on Expert Advisory, 50% on an Execution Mandate, requested within 25 days of delivery. You email us, we review the brief against what was delivered, and we process the refund. The guarantee exists because we are confident we will not need it. In practice, the revision period resolves most issues before the refund question arises.
Yes. You can read a full sample report now, or use the sample form on this page and we will email it to you. It is built on an illustrative corridor (real client reports use current, cited data for your own product and market), so you can judge the exact format, depth, and honesty before you order. Real client reports themselves are confidential to the client who commissioned them.
Every Execution Mandate is scoped individually. We define the milestone together before any fee is agreed, a signed distributor LOI, a product registered for import, a first container landed in-market. If we do not hit it within 90 days, you receive 50% back. That guarantee exists because we are confident we will not need it. Name a global consultancy that offers the same.
Corridor Intelligence
We publish sharp, sourced analysis on the world's trade corridors into East Africa and other high-growth markets: duty and regulation changes, port and logistics shifts, and the openings worth moving on. Join the list and get it free, every few days.