By Aletha Mudyahoto- The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a true manifestation of how ideas have been transformed from ideologies into development. Officially opened in January 2021, the AfCFTA aims to create a single market, requiring member states to lift tariffs from 90% of goods inorder to promote free access to commodities, goods and services across the continent. A free trade area is the region encompassing a trade bloc whose members have signed a free trade agreement sealing economic cooperation. AfCFTA covers trade in goods and services, investment and intellectual property rights etc. The full benefits of the AfCFTA are yet to be realised because it’s operations have been affected heavily by the persistent corona virus (covid-19) which has ravaged the whole continent, endangering economies resulting in disruption of industrial production, financial markets have become volatile, slow movement of goods and people as well as closure of borders which have slowed trade facilitation. The AfCFTA presents a crucial opportunity for regional integration, all member states are unified for a common interest of economic growth and development. The ability to successfully trade under the AfCFTA refutes the idea that Africans cannot prosper without dependency or inter- dependency on Western countries. Intra- Africa trade gives member states access to vast markets, with the removal of trade barriers countries are able to export their products and goods in many quantities and an increase in exports means an increase in domestic income and the flow of foreign currency and eventually reduction of...

Manufacturers from Kenya and Tanzania are holding a three-day conference to mend the frosty trade relations between the two countries which has hurt both. The event organised by Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) will deliberate ontrade promotion and market access between the two neighbours. Speaking in Nairobi during the event, KAM chairman, Mucai Kunyiha said solving pertinent issues affecting the two nations will not only enhance trade but also drive competitiveness of products and services. “Kenya and Tanzania have the capability and capacity to add value to the array of resources that both countries have for export markets. However, achieving this is hindered every time the business community encounters impediments to trade, consequently, impacting on the benefits of trade to the entire region,” he said. He noted that the recent visit by Tanzanian President, Samia Suluhu, was a gesture of collaboration and would reinvigorate relations between Kenya and Tanzania. Speaking at the same event, CTI Chairman, Paul Makanza, urged delegates from both countries to uphold a rule-based trade relationship to reduce the imposition on non-tariff Barriers on cross-border trade. Both countries Gerrishon Ikiara, a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi lauded the move, saying the persistent frosty relations were hurting both countries. “The countries depend on one another for a fairly substantial amount of trade. They should do everything possible to iron out the differences so that they can largely be guided by the East African Community trade protocols,” Ikiara said. “My recommendation...

Kenya has automated and standardised its electronic maritime system to enhance information flow at the Mombasa port. The system will facilitate end-to-end information flow between shipping agents, ports authority and other maritime stakeholders and government agencies. Shipping and Maritime Affairs PS Nancy Karigithu said the system has a central electronic unit where all documentation and processes are input and processed to enable ships to arrive and leave as quickly as possible. “This will shorten the time vessels, passengers and cargo take at the port. The longer a ship stays at the port, the more it costs and there is a trickle-down effect of the expenses at the port to the local economy,” said Karigithu. The new system enables pre-clearance and pre-processing of the information before the ship arrives, electronically. “It also ensures that all the agencies, government or private, who have something to do with the vessel have one single place which become the single point of truth for all the processes and the information that is needed,” Karigithu said. KPA general manager operations and harbour master Sudi Mwasinago said the system is essential to port activities as it will improve performance, enhance safety and security, and improve ship turnaround time. “Pre-arrival clearance of cargo and pre-arrival departure of vessels is key to the turnaround and throughput of the port,” said Mwasinago. The trickle-down effect, he said, will be increased volumes at the port because more clients will be incentivised by the efficiency hat will come with the system. He...

Maritime Affairs, Principal Secretary Nancy Karigithu speaking during the official launch of the Maritime Single Window System (MSWS) at Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa County on July 7, 2021. The system facilitates end-to-end information flow between the shipping agents, port authorities, as well as other government agencies. Photo credit: Wachira Mwangi I Nation Media Group. Shipping firms and agents operating in Kenya will benefit from enhanced efficiency at the port of Mombasa following the launch of the Maritime Single Window System (MSWS). The system, which facilitates end-to-end information flow between shipping agents, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and other government agencies, was officially launched by Maritime Affairs PS Nancy Karigithu in Mombasa on Wednesday. Ms Karigithu said implementation of the new system is part of initiatives to facilitate trade in line with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Convention on Facilitation of Maritime Traffic (FAL), which makes it mandatory for governments to introduce electronic information exchange between ships and ports, to make cross-border trade simpler and logistics chains efficient. "This aims at promoting measures to bring about uniformity and simplicity in documenting requirements and procedures associated with the arrival, stay and departure of ships engaged in international voyages,” Ms Karigithu said. The new system now allows shipping agents in Kenya to electronically submit vessel pre-arrival and pre-departure FAL declarations to government agencies at the port. The agencies include the Kenya Maritime Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority, State Department of Immigration, Port Health, National Environment Management Authority, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service and the...

…Implementation of the Maritime Single Window makes Kenya compliant with the Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL) Convention … Mombasa Kenya July 7, 2021 – The maritime stakeholders in Kenya will benefit from enhanced efficiency at the Port of Mombasa following the launch of the Maritime Single Window System (MSWS). The system will facilitate end-to-end information flow between the Shipping Agents, Port Authority, as well as other government agencies. The MSWS which was officially launched on July 07, 2021, in Mombasa by the Cabinet Secretary, The National Treasury & Planning Hon. Ambassador Ukur Yatani was developed jointly by Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) and the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) with financial support from UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) and Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) through TradeMark Africa (TMA). The Project now makes Kenya compliant with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Facilitation of International Maritime (FAL) Convention. The FAL Convention contains standards, recommended practices and rules for simplifying formalities, documentary requirements and procedures on ships' arrival, stay and departure and recommends the use of the “single window” concept in which all the agencies and authorities involved in ship and passenger clearance exchange data via a single point of contact. The MSWS which has been developed by CrimsonLogic, has been integrated with KenTrade’s Single Window System (Kenya TradeNet) which covers the vessel arrival and departure process of both cargo and non-cargo vessels, facilitates the processing of all associated documentation for a quicker turnaround time in handling maritime traffic. This translates...

The IOTA Foundation has stated that the initial stage of its cooperation with an East African business to facilitate paperless trading in the area has been completed successfully. The Foundation partnered with TradeMark Africa on the initiative, which aimed to modernize the continent’s supply chain’s inefficient and expensive paper-based procedures. This technique was substituted by a more effective digital approach system on the basis of IOTA’s ledger data platform, the Tangle. The Foundation collaborated with the Nairobi, Kenya-headquartered business to develop an interconnectivity technological framework that allows East African companies to “interact in a clear, safe, and immediate manner, both between themselves and with global associates.” TradeMark Africa (TMA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting regional commercial development. According to their calculations, a single transaction in Africa necessitates the completion of 96 paper based documents on average. The situation is far worse for exporters. They misplace papers because they have to distribute them physically, which contributes to inefficiencies, which are usually always pricey. Along with TMA, the IOTA Foundation is working to alter this. The Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP), which centered on the Kenyan flower business, was their initial effort. It’s among Kenya’s most important industries, and is also one of Africa’s largest. Kenya exports around 180,000 tonnes of flowers each year, or nearly seven million stems each day. Because this sort of product is very perishable, having an effective and robust distribution chain is important. This is something that TLIP has already been giving to farmers and exporters. “In...

Summary Mwilima toyed with the idea of making affordable and reusable sanitary towels. She found that menstrual hygiene was no isolated problem for teenagers but rather a serious dilemma facing many women in rural and urban areas. She is a full time menstrual hygiene activist, and socialpreneur. A chance meeting with a teenager suffering from dysmenorrhea commonly known as painful period pains, who also lacked hygienic sanitary towels, set off Mwanaidi Abdul Mwilima, 32, on the path of entrepreneurship. That was back in 2017 when she worked in procurement. Mwilima then toyed with the idea of making affordable and reusable sanitary towels as a way of solving a problem that is biologically natural but considered taboo even to discuss. As she struggled with how to be of help, she found that menstrual hygiene was no isolated problem for teenagers but rather a serious dilemma facing many women in rural and urban areas. There were misconceptions, taboos and lack of menstrual hygiene knowledge, making it wholly unpleasant for affected women. “I knew then that I wanted be the change I want to see. I am a strong believer in the mantra change begins with us, and not expecting someone else to be at the frontline to improve our situations, and the idea of making reusable sanitary pads was born,” says Mwilima. In 2019, she officially registered her company, Jollie, with the help of a ‘’soft’’ loan as a member of the Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce (TWCC), and bought sewing machines,...

NAIROBI, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has identified the coast region as the next frontier for the growth of the horticulture industry amid favorable weather and development of modern infrastructure projects like ports and railways, officials said on Tuesday. Benjamin Tito, director of Horticultural Crops Directorate said that converting the coast region into a hub for the cultivation of fresh produce including fruits and vegetables is in the works to boost foreign exchange earnings. "The coast region has favorable weather for growing fruits and vegetables to help meet local demand and overseas markets," Tito said during a stakeholders' workshop in the coastal city of Mombasa. He said the government has enacted friendly regulations and policies to stimulate private sector investments in the horticulture sector as a means to boost food security and revenue to the exchequer. And an upgraded port of Mombasa, the launch of Lamu port and standard gauge railway will facilitate seamless transportation of fresh produce from the coast region to the hinterland for value addition. Theophilus Mutui, managing director of Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) said that the establishment of a vibrant regulatory system will ensure that fresh produce grown in the coast region is devoid of toxins. Okisegere Ojepat, CEO, Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya (FPCK) said the coast region is ideal for large-scale cultivation of pineapples, mangoes, chilies, bananas and passion fruits for local consumption and export. He said identifying new geographical locations for growing horticultural crops will enable Kenya to meet rising demand...

Indonesia plans to use the Lamu port to export crude palm oil to Kenya. Indonesia Ambassador Mohamad Hery Saripudin said on Sunday Indonesia wants to promote its shipment activities with Kenya. Speaking when he met Lapsset and KPA officials at the port in Kililana, the envoy expressed satisfaction with the master plan and general development of the port. He also pledged to encourage the Indonesian private sector to consider the port as an alternative shipment for crude palm oil to Kenya. Indonesia and Kenya enjoy a good trade relationship spanning decades. Indonesia imports tea, coffee, and leather products from Kenya while Kenya, on the other hand, imports crude palm oil, paper, and textile from Indonesia. “We are here to know the grand design of Lamu Port and seek possible cooperation with Indonesia. We also want to find ways to promote partnership between stakeholders in Indonesia and the newly inaugurated Lamu Port. “I am sure that Indonesian businesspersons will be happy using this facility, especially if the tariff of service is competitive,” he said. Indonesia is a major supplier of crude palm oil to Kenya. It exported 450 metric tonnes of the commodity last year alone. Thus far, the oil has only been transported via the Mombasa port. “Since the capacity of Lamu Port is planned to be significantly larger than Mombasa, we intend to use it as an alternative shipment port of the crude palm oil. The distribution will not be limited to Kenya but also to the entire Eastern...

The Foundation is partnering with Trademark East Africa to develop digital infrastructure for improving supply chain transparency and trust among trading partners in Kenya. The IOTA Foundation, the non-profit foundation driving open-source distributed ledger technology for a new digital economy, today announced the initial success of its ongoing collaboration with Trademark East Africa (TMA). The duo aims to build a decentralized digital infrastructure for optimized trade exports using IOTA’s distributed technology to phase out paperwork from crucial supply chains. As per the release, IOTA Foundation and Trademark East Africa will work on creating a system for East African businesses and government systems to communicate in a transparent, secure, and instantaneous manner, both amongst themselves as well as with international partners. This would further enable traders to focus on developing their product and optimizing their business by digitizing bureaucratic processes and moving export documentation to the Tangle, IOTA’s ledger data structure. The problem and the IOTA solution According to Trademark East Africa’s estimates, an African entrepreneur is liable to fill out an average of 96 paper documents for a single transaction. However, the system developed by the IOTA Foundation and TMA anchors the key trade documents on the Tangle and shares them with customs in destination countries to speed up the export process and make African companies more competitive globally. “The technology we use, with the permissionless distributed ledger, is about bringing trust to all these actors at the vital point when they exchange the data. The cost of doing cross-border trade...