Nairobi — Kenya's volume of trade rose from Sh169.65 billion in June 2020 to Sh190.76 billion in July 2020. This is according to a study conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics which also reveals that the value of total exports increased from Sh48.05 billion in June 2020 to Sh52.00 billion in July 2020. Meanwhile, the value of imports increased from Sh121.60 billion in June 2020 to Sh138.76 billion in July 2020. Domestic exports by Broad Economic Category (BEC) indicated that food and beverages were the main export category in July 2020 accounting for 46.06 percent of exports, while non-food industrial supplies accounted for 22.29 percent of the total exports. The quantity of coffee exported decreased from 5,414.08 MT in June 2020 to 3,546.25 MT in July 2020 and its value dropped from Sh2,956.33 million to Sh1,799.26 million over the same period. The quantity of tea exported increased from 46,399.01 MT in June 2020 to 46,850.57 MT in July 2020. However, the value of exported tea dropped from Sh10,293.00 million to Sh10,013.83 million over the same period. Imports by BEC indicate that non-food industrial supplies were the main import category in July 2020 with a share of 39.35 percent. Machinery & other capital equipment; Fuel and lubricants; and transport equipment constituted 19.26, 12.32, and 8.24, percent of the total value of imports, respectively. Foods and beverages accounted for 9.77 percent of the total imports in July 2020. Read original article

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Representative to Tanzania, Mauritius and the East African Community (EAC), Stephen Bainous Kargbo, on Friday paid a courtesy call on the EAC Secretary General, Peter Mathuki in Arusha, Tanzania. Welcoming his guest, the Secretary General noted the import role UNIDO had played over the years in supporting the EAC's industrialisation efforts. Mathuki said that the EAC Heads of State recognise that for socio-economic development to be sustainable, the EAC region must prioritise industrialisation. "The need for the region to prioritise industrialisation has been stressed upon by our Heads of State. We now need leaders and technocrats in the region to think of a collective regional strategy to respond to unemployment including expanding the manufacturing sector's capacity and promoting youth entrepreneurs," said the Secretary General. The Secretary General decried the huge amount of resources that the Community is losing in exporting raw materials, leading to the loss of jobs and investment opportunities. He reiterated the need for the region to work together in developing the manufacturing sector rather than competing against each other. "We must develop our regional value chains, but in so doing, we must establish our comparative advantages, identifying who is best fitted to do what, and thereby establishing complementarity in the region," he said. On his part, the UNIDO representative said that of the EAC-UNIDO partnership has been instrumental in supporting and tracking industrial development in the region. "UNIDO will continue to play its role by supporting relevant institutions in capacity...

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has come out to clarify that there has not been 2000% tax increase on textiles and garments as earlier stated by Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA). Ian M. Rumanyika, Ag. Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs, says instead, government has waived the specific duty rate of US$3/3.5 per kilo for textiles and garments that are not manufactured in Uganda. “Through a ministerial directive ref TPD.81/167/04 dated 4th August 2021, textiles and garments which are not manufactured in Uganda and as such cannot be adequately sourced locally have been maintained at an import duty rate of 35%. These textiles account for 90% of the clearances by the textile and garments traders,” he says, adding: “However, the textiles and garments that can be sourced locally from Ugandan manufacturers which account for 10% of the imports by the traders shall be maintained at the rate of 35% or $3.0 per kilogram for textiles or 35% or USD 3.5 per kilogram for garments as approved by the council of Ministers under the East African Community Gazette Legal Notice No. EAC/118 /2021 dated 30th June 2021.” Rumanyika notes that 35% was the tax rate applicable on textile for the Financial Year 2020/2021 and therefore status quo has been maintained. On reports that 700 containers were stuck at URA, Rumanyika said: “We are in possession of 125 containers and so far, 9 have been cleared due to the new tax regime as pronounced by the Honorable Minister of Finance Planning and Economic...

The impact of Covid-19 and its containment measures has shifted the landscape of how trade can be conducted. Today businesses are seizing every opportunity provided by digital technology and innovation to offers enormous products that drive economic growth and business development. The Future of commerce through E-Commerce has massive potential to create major shifts in cross-border trade or exports and imports, widen markets, and enhance competitiveness of businesses and efficiency in delivery of goods and services locally and internationally. It also has the ability to cause the emergence of new business models and removal of some traditional intermediaries while introducing other intermediaries that suit the online marketplace. The prevailing pandemic only emphasizes that the business world must quickly adapt to e-commerce. While the electronic sale of goods still represents only a small fraction of economic activity, the use of internet and digital innovation seems to be unlimited possibilities—as both a conduit and a disrupter of business. These are all great strides in embracing the progression of commerce in the 4th industrial revolution. James Odomel, the Communications and Public Relations Officer of the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI) says while the pandemic has provided a good opportunity for businesses to integrate technology into their day-to-day transaction, its impact has limited trade, commercial transactions thus rendering a lot of businesses incapable of operating. To repair the damage to the economy, Odomel recommends that the government provide incentives to businesses in the form of tax holidays, business reliefs and loans...

International prices of maize, wheat and rice dropped in June 2021, but remained well above their recent 5-YA values. The decline was due to improved production prospects and recent harvests for the first two and reduced demand for the latter. Staple food prices in the region trended seasonally in 2021Q2. While they increased modestly in Burundi, South-Central Somalia and Ethiopia, prices accelerated exceptionally in Sudan but decreased in South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda in the second quarter. Cross-border trade volumes improved in 2021 Q2 due to increased supplies from the June harvests and slight improvement in availability of hard currency through bi-weekly actions of dollars in South Sudan. Tanzania and Uganda continued their regional cross-border exports dominance. Read original article

In Summary The commitment by the JCC to abolish up to 64 tariff and non-tariff barriers affecting trade relations between the two EAC states is welcome. The effort to resolve or otherwise abolish impediments to trade amongst the states will target trade bottlenecks such a customs clearance. The Joint Commission on Cooperation (JCC), a bilateral institution comprising of the Governments of Kenya and Tanzania looking at enhancing cooperation between the two states on areas of mutual interest, recently resolved to abolish non-tariff barriers preventing cross-border trade between the two East Africa Community (EAC) member states by December 2021. The commitment by the JCC to abolish up to 64 tariff and non-tariff barriers affecting trade relations between the two EAC states is indeed welcome, particularly given the states’ strenuous relationship in recent past. The effort to resolve or otherwise abolish impediments to trade amongst the states will target trade bottlenecks such a customs clearance and processing, inspection of standardised products, and telecommunication inefficiencies. As discussed previously in this column, a number of challenges have through the years presented themselves as curtailing EAC from achieving her trade potentials. These include misguided protectionist domestic trade policies that seek to protect domestic industries from perceived competitive threats, tariff and non-tariff barriers and increased threats of double taxation. The above considered, a raft of policy measures have been considered and implemented with a view to revitalise intra-EAC trade. These include a focus on the improvement and modernisation of infrastructure linkages, the removal of non-tariff barriers...

Tanzania and Kenya have set December this year as the deadline by which the two would have removed most of the non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade between them NTBs – also called non-tariff measures (NTMs) – are trade barriers that restrict imports and/or exports of goods and/or services through mechanisms other than the simple imposition of tariffs. The countries that ratified the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Customs Union that came into force in 2005 agreed to “immediately remove all the-then existing non-tariff barriers to the importation into their respective territories of goods originating in the other Partner States”. They also agreed NOT to impose any new NTBS. However, more than 15 years after the Protocol came into force, trade barriers still plague intra-trade in the regional integration bloc of neighbouring countries that are hell-bent on an East African Federation, complete with a single federal government. For example, JTC formed by the Tanzania and Kenya governments as part and parcel of the JCC – and which is jointly led by Tanzania Minister for Industry and Trade, Mr Kitila Mkumbo, and his Kenyan counterpart, Ms Betty Mauna – identified 64 major challenges which are unfriendly to bilateral relations between Tanzania and Kenya alone. Some 60 of the challenges comprised tariff and NTBs to trade between the two countries. However, a month after the state visit of Kenya by Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan last June – and successfully dialoguing with her Kenyan counterpart, President Uhuru Kenyatta – 30...

Arusha. Charges on Covid-19 tests remain high for the poor women traders along the Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) common border. They told a team of business organisations from the region that visited the area on Monday that the fees were impacting their businesses. ‘Reduction of the test charges at the borders would enable women traders across the borders to have enough cargo to run their businesses,” said Ms Kitumaini Bagula Esperance, one of their leaders. She said currently, the Covid-19 test is $30 per day and for each time that traders cross into Burundi, and $5 for Burundi cross border traders entering DRC. Other challenges the traders face include physical verification of goods. According to her, this causes delays, thus increasing the cost of doing business. The Covid-19 test charges at the Bujumbura airport are $100, and this is blamed for delays to passengers using the facility. Pleas have been made to reduce them to $50 per passenger. Ms Esperance raised the women traders’ concerns during the visit to the Katumba-Kavivira border between the two countries by officials from the East African Business Council (EABC). Others were from the Association of Burundi Traders (ACOBU). They were there to assess the free movement of goods, services and people. It emerged that although the Katumba-Kavivira was a vibrant route for cross border trade, it has been highly impacted by Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, the area has been subjected to flooding along the Rusizi river which forms the Burundi/DRC border and...

For the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to see true prosperity, there is a need for stakeholders on the continent to devise digital solutions “designed by Africa and used by Africa”. This was the principal takeaway from the array of experts who shared thoughts at the maiden edition of the Africa Digital Conference, which had as its theme ‘The Digital Challenge: Africa’s Opportunity Under AfCFTA’. It was unanimously agreed that wholesale adoption of imported digital solutions, particularly those which take very little of the continent’s peculiar dynamics into consideration, would represent a lost opportunity for the continent to adequately take charge of its affairs and see some of its brightest persons miss out on designing home-grown solutions for Africa. According to the Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, indigenous solutions are crucial for the success of cross-border trade and payment systems, as well as the delivery of equitable social services to people across socio-economic boundaries. Beyond digitalisation, she noted, there is also the need to systematically create opportunities for homegrown start-ups in the space. In a speech read on her behalf, she said: “I believe that if governments can support a vibrant computer hardware manufacturer in one country to supply various schools across the continent, while reciprocating the support to other competitively-advantaged companies in sister countries in other areas of expertise, there will be an increase in the scale upon which these companies can viably establish or cement their operations. “These are truly the building blocks toward realising...

The Compact with Africa is a G20 initiative that promotes macroeconomic, business and financing reforms to attract more private investment in Africa, including in infrastructure. Participants of a G20 Compact with Africa meeting this week assessed Africa’s progress in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are meeting at a pivotal time in the relationship between Africa and the rest of the world,” said Italian prime minister Mario Draghi. The Compact with Africa is a G20 initiative that promotes macroeconomic, business and financing reforms to attract more private investment in Africa, including in infrastructure. The conference brought together heads of state of the 12 Compact members and institutional partners, including the African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It involved strategy discussions around attracting higher inflows of foreign direct investment to Africa and the urgent imperative to develop vaccine manufacture capability on the African continent. Securing the continent’s recovery from the impacts of Covid-19 is one of the Compact’s near-term objectives. Vaccine inequity was a recurring theme, and heads of state shared reforms that they had undertaken as part of the initiative. Closer international cooperation was urged to address climate change, debt levels and investment shortfalls. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa emphasized that “Africa will not be able to recover until Africans are vaccinated.” President Emmanuel Macron said France had committed to providing $10 million vaccine doses for Africa. African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said the African Development Bank had committed to investing $5 billion to support vaccine...