Kenya’s ranking in ease of doing business in recent years has been impressive. The World Bank’s recent rating put Kenya at position 56, a significant improvement from number 136 six years ago — posting one of the most improved countries in Africa and globally. The country leads her peers in the region and Uganda, our biggest trading partner, is ranked at position 116 with Tanzania ranking poorly at position 141. We are ahead of other African economic giants such as South Africa and Nigeria that are ranked positions 82 and 131, respectively. Although Kenya’s good ranking directly results from vibrant measures she has introduced to cut down bureaucracy in the government in the recent years, we can still post better results and reap benefits by initiating several quick fixes. Things are not very rosy at the moment because of the shrinking manufacturing index, high-cost of electricity, high corruption and high tax regime, which have made experts to warn that the good ranking may deteriorate to oscillate around 60 in 2021 and 80 in 2022. One of the critical lessons the country has learnt during the Covid-19 pandemic is the need to leverage on Information and Technology to do business. The government should encourage all its key agencies to automate and also create collaborative mechanisms with the private sector, which have also made huge strides in automating their processes and operations. Critical departments that have automated their operations have vital lessons to offer. For instance, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is rolling...

Summary Uganda needs to re-organise itself locally by eliminating all forms of strategic sabotage and backwardness and position itself to compete favourably for external markets if sustainable growth and development is to be permanently achieved. A new road extends a man’s freedom only if he travels upon it. Whereas the 10 point programme was big and better, the new four way test introduced by the NRM administration to transform Uganda socially and economically is simpler, clearer and most applicable. The NRM’s manifesto 2021-2026 introduces four major pillars as well as avenues designed to excel Uganda into a well-integrated, self-sustaining and economically independent country, with all her peoples and regions at aggregate peace, stability, freedom as well as socio-economic breakthrough. The four great pillars and avenues positioned to champion a new fundamental change for Uganda are patriotism, PanAfricanism, democracy and social-economic transformation. To achieve these pillars adequately, four major avenues have been cited to serve as strategic conduits for socio-economic transformation. The four great avenues are commercial agriculture, industry, services and information, communication technology (ICT). The new task ahead of NRM is to live the talk. To learn, re-learn and unlearn all the proposed strategies which don’t yield significant results. To implement, re-implement and un-implement all possible interventions that show no equitable results. To train, re-train and most train all party cadres and state actors to recite and unpack these great pillars and avenues of sustainable development wherever they go, for total society indoctrination and positive mind change towards government programmes....

Malawi's Health Minister, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, has called for vigilance among key agencies in the fight against Covid-19 in the country's border posts to stop people that might be trying to use borders to sneak in from high risk countries. Kandodo said security agencies and health workers in border posts have to be alert on travellers who are coming from high risk countries such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan among other countries in order to safeguard the country from the virus. She made the remarks on Friday when she presided over the handover ceremony of Covid-19 quarantine and screening facilities to the government of Malawi by United Kingdom (UK) government in partnership with Trade Mark East Africa. "We need to be alert as a country. Health workers at the border posts have to make sure that travellers have Covid-19 negative certificates when entering the country." "As a ministry we have issued a ban to travellers from high risk countries like India and we know people from these countries can land in Zambia and travel by road to Malawi so all agencies at the border have to be vigilant," Kandodo said. The UK government in partnership with Trade Mark East Africa donated quarantine and screening facilities to four targeted border stations of Mchinji, Songwe, Dedza and Mwanza. The Minister expressed gratitude towards the donation saying the facilities will go a long way in containing the spread of the disease while at the same time facilitating smooth trade flows across the main...

CARGO traffic handled at the Dar es Salam port steadily increase thanks to the on-going modernisation project that is improving capacity and enhancing efficiency at the port. The Port Director, Elihuruma Lema, told the 'Daily News' on Tuesday that cargo volume handled at the port increased by 16.67 per cent to 16.01 million metric tonnes in 2019/2020 financial year from 13.7 million metric tonnes in 2015/2016. He attributed the rising throughput volume to expansion of berths from the on-going Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project that is boosting cargo handling capacity and operational improvements that have enhanced efficiency at the port. The port director said infrastructure developments in the central transport corridor which connects the Dar port by road, rail and inland waterways to Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, had also contributed to increase the port throughput. He said improved cargo security had also contributed to increased throughput as it helped the port to maintain existing customers and win more from the East African region. "The port handling capacity is steadily increasing. There were also large-scale operational improvements that enhanced efficiency and infrastructure development in the central transport corridor," he said. Dar es Salaam port, the country's largest and busiest port, is undergoing a massive expansion work under the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project which is supported by the government and a coalition of development partners including the Trade Mark East Africa (TMA), the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), and...

THE implementation of the Hargeisa Bypass project, which was officially launched recently by President Muse Bihi in the presence of Kate Foster, the British Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Somalia is more than 25 percent complete. The project, funded by the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), and implemented by the government of Somaliland through the Ministry of Transport and Roads Development with the support of Trademark East Africa (TMA), involves the upgrade of the 22.5 kilometres Hargeisa By-pass into a 2-lane single carriageway. The project team includes COCC-GCI JV, Kagga & Partners, and ITEC Engineering Ltd who are undertaking the project’s civil works, overseeing the project’s design & supervision, and carrying out the project’s technical audit respectively. TMA infrastructure technical team in partnership with the GoSL also appointed a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) to provide oversight on the project. Upon completion, the project is mainly expected to decongest Hargeisa city, the Somaliland capital, and partly reduce the time and cost of transporting goods between Berbera Port and the landlocked Republic of Ethiopia via the new road from the port city to Tog Wajaale border. The latter is in support of the Berbera Corridor project which stands to enhance the trade and transit capacity and provide Ethiopia’s expanding trade volumes with an alternative sea route, reducing over-reliance on the Djibouti route which is currently used for 95 percent of the East African country’s exports. During the construction phase of the Hargeisa By-pass, particular attention is being paid to climate-proofing...

Resolution of existing trade barriers between Kenya and Tanzania may take longer than expected due to bureaucracy. The directive by presidents Samia Hassan and Uhuru Kenyatta that government officials waive work permit fees and clear maize imports from Tanzania took effect almost immediately, but Kenyan small-scale traders say they waiting for a similar gesture from Tanzania. Kenya’s Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya toured Namanga border post on May 7 and oversaw the release of trucks transporting maize. Kenya had in March banned the importation of maize from Uganda and Tanzania over rising concerns about aflatoxin levels in the grains and imposed stringent measures to ensure compliance. Mr Munya went to Namanga to effect the presidential orders as a sign of the warming relations between the two largest EAC economies. “This is just one of the issues that we are dealing with very quickly,” said Mr Munya. “But all the other issues that are making it difficult to trade with one another are going to be discussed in a bilateral meeting planned before the end of May.” One Stop Border Post Mr Munya also ordered that Covid-19 test results be released within 12 hours to enable fast movement of trucks across the border. This was in response to President Samia, who during her state visit to Nairobi requested that Covid-19 testing be harmonised to facilitate faster movement of goods. And last Monday, EAC Secretary General Dr Peter Mathuki toured the Namanga One Stop Border Post, accompanied by the High Commissioner of...

Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh is seen at the opening of the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and the Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 9, 2020. (Photo: Agencies) Ismail Omar Guelleh on Saturday was inaugurated as Djibouti's president to serve another five-year term. Guelleh garnered 97 percent of the vote in last month's election to secure a fifth term in office. Several African heads of state attended the ceremony, including Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Roble and South Sudan Vice-President Rebecca Nyandeng Garang De Mabior. The swearing-in was held at the Presidential Palace in Djibouti. In his inauguration address, Guelleh called on African nations to unite and embrace integration to achieve the continent's development aspirations. "Africa will be powerful if it is united. It will be rich if we are together, if our countries cooperate and complement each other in pursuit of our common vision of strong and efficient states," Guelleh said. He reiterated Djibouti's commitment to the various continental multilateral initiatives aimed at building a resilient African economy, among them the African Continental Free Trade Area. "We must work together relentlessly to safeguard this peace and stability. We must nurture our commitment to developing a continent of peace and stability," he added. Guelleh also called for a speedy resolution of the conflicts affecting parts of Africa, saying peace and stability are a pre-requisite for the continent's sustainable economic and...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has so far lent about $491.5 million to Uganda said that it is a misconception to assume that Uganda’s debt is unsustainable. Uganda’s public debt levels are within a manageable threshold in the long term, noted Izabela Karpowicz the IMF Resident Representative for Uganda. “We used to rate Uganda at low risk and now it will be moving to medium risk and this is due to Covid-19. It is not correct to say the debt is not sustainable over the medium and long term.” Ms Karpowicz said on the sidelines of a policy dialogue on Uganda’s economy, which was organised by the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) and the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE). She noted that how resources that are being borrowed now and in the future will be deployed productively should be what Ugandans should be worried about and not the debt levels. She also said that Uganda can naturally grow out of debt as long as the funds borrowed can spur growth. Source: Statista Speaking on how Uganda can navigate the tough economic situation as a result of the pandemic, Ms Karpowicz said “We would like to see strong budget allocation in the social sector going forward.” She asked Uganda’s to spend more on social sectors such as health and education on which spending had decreased sighting that investments in the sectors will trigger and drive the recovery process. The IMF representative said that Uganda’s economy can be put on a sustainable...

The British Government has advised Malawi to focus on unleashing the power of the private sector to create growth and substitute low-value with high value crops in the Affordable Inputs Programme. British High Commissioner David Beer said this on Friday in Mchinji on the sidelines of a symbolic handover of Covid-19 isolation and screening facilities built at Songwe, Mwanza, Dedza and Mchinji border posts. The project, which is supported by the British Government, was implemented by the TradeMark Africa in collaboration with the ministries of Trade and Health to promote safe cross-border trade amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Beer said Malawi’s ratification of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA)—a single continent-wide market for goods and services and to promote the movement of capital and natural persons—was a huge step forward. But he said the cost of production, which makes prices of goods and services expensive, will render Malawi uncompetitive on the continental market that connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product valued at $3.4 trillion. Said Beer: “Malawi needs to shift away from low-value crops such as maize and soya and it needs to wean itself off tobacco. “Malawi’s comparative advantage is not in producing these crops and the environmental damage brought by a maize monoculture is becoming clearer. The focus must, therefore, shift to high-value crops such as spices, nuts, berries and other high-value fruits.” He said such crops are in high demand in many lucrative markets globally, observing that a hectare...

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has commissioned the Kazungula Bridge and One Stop Border Post (OSBP). The bridge and state-of-the-art facilities were officially commissioned by the President of Botswana (H.E. Eric Mokgweetsi Masisi) and the President of Zambia (H.E. Edgar Chagwa Lungu) at the quadriphonic meeting point of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe across the Zambezi River. The bridge cost a total of USD 259.0 million which was funded by the governments of Botswana and Zambia with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The bridge and OSBP are expected to link the port of Durban in South Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania through the North-South Corridor to facilitate trade and regional integration. My fear is that the Durban port may see less business, but this may be offset by other benefits like lessening congestion at the Beit Bridge border. It is heartening to learn that the engineering design of this massive project, was designed in such a way that it had to avoid encroachment in Zimbabwe, bcze Mugabe, was opposed to the idea. In retrospect, our region lags behind in terms of economic integration and development. Our regional ecosystems was left exposed by the sudden decline of of alephants and Boabab trees, that have been part of our ecosystems for the last 3000 years. Read original article