The East African Business Council has commended the government of South Sudan for providing security escorts to cargo transporters entering the country. It also appreciates the traders and the government for finding a quick solution to the cross-border trade impasse that could have impacted negatively the region’s economy. For two weeks, cargo transporters refused to deliver commercial goods to South Sudan after the killing of their colleagues along the Juba-Nimule highway and the Yei-Juba road. After several meetings, the cargo drivers and the government resolved to resume the importation of goods, but with security guarantees. The SSPDF deployed heavily along the routes and removed all unnecessary roadblocks that were extorting money from the traders. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the East African Business Council said this move should secure the free flow of cargo and services into and out of South Sudan along the Juba route. It urges the Ministries in charge of Interstate Security in the East African Community to find lasting solutions to guarantee peace and security for business people and their properties. The body maintained that peace and security are prerequisites to social and economic development, and for increased intra-EAC trade and investments and ease of doing business across borders Statistics show that South Sudan imported goods valued at approximately $377 million from the EAC region and exported 17.9 million dollars into the bloc in 2018. In 2019, Kenya alone exported goods valued at approximately $122.9 million to South Sudan. The region’s Business Council states that the...

In the latest episode of Connecting Africa, CNN International’s Eleni Giokos explores how Africa’s telecommunications industry is transforming business and gearing up for a more interconnected continent. Giokos interviews the CEOs of several major telecommunications companies and sees how their products are helping traders across Africa. First, Giokos meets Ralph Mupita, President and CEO of the MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network. Mupita says that investment in the telecommunications industry is only going to increase in the years ahead, “We’re going to spend approximately $10 billion over the next five years to ensure that Africa has the infrastructure to power its growth.” The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement has opened up trade across the continent and across many areas of industry. The telecommunications sector is a key part of this and Mupita discusses why “I would argue that it’s not possible that we get the kind of the growth that is anticipated under the agreement without the telecommunications sector.” Looking to the future, MTN is hoping to harness 5G technology across Africa. Mupita speaks about his goals, “5G is coming to Africa. We’re not going to get left behind. And as you start thinking about future technologies and how they can drive African growth, we will be right there as MTN for sure, and looking at how these technologies can be harnessed to drive socio-economic progress in the various countries that we operate in.” Next, Giokos visits Vodacom, the second most valuable brand in Africa. Vodacom executives are thinking big after a 40% jump in...

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is walking its mission of “providing an environment that delivers a delightful experience in revenue services and business facilitation.” The tax body has renewed commitment of leading Uganda to economic self-sufficiency status and appeals to all taxpayers to commit to take this journey with it (URA). Ian M. Rumanyika,  the Ag. Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs at URA, says URA  shall endeavour to listen to Taxpayers, try to understand their concerns and is  looking to develop Taxpayer-focused solutions that will make life easier and better for all Ugandans as the tax body promotes Voluntary Tax compliance. “URA assures Taxpayers of a continued and sustainable commitment to enabling businesses thrive. URA is your business partner. Kakasa-your in charge of your business,” Rumanyika says. He revealed a number of interventions URA has undertaken to support businesses during and post COVID. i.        Extended Filing of monthly returns promotional activities to encourage tax compliance amidst the pandemic. This provision has been extended in respect to VAT, PAYE, LED, WHT and Taxes under Lottery & Gaming returns. On 8th March 2020 provision was extended to taxpayers due to file returns by 15th April 2020, but were unable to file, granted 15 more days to file on 30th April, 2020. In addition, for those who failed to file their February 2020 returns by 15th March 2020 and were liable to late payment penalties, these penalties were waived, provided their February returns came in by 31st March 2020. On 8th May 2020 provision was further...

For decades, African women have been trapped in poverty cycles due to several underlying factors including unequal access to education, factors of production, and trade facilities; inequitable labour-saving technologies; underpaid or unpaid labour; harmful cultural practices; and limited legal protection from gender inequality practices entrenched in society. To break the cycle of poverty and inequalities, the African Union continues to advocate for the development and implementation of policies and legal; frameworks that will create a wider array of opportunities for women, and which will lead to their economic empowerment at the national and regional levels and ensuring that the development envisaged for Africa is inclusively sustainable. With the launch of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January 2021, the expectations are high as relates to the expanded business prospects for women-led business which will unlock the potential for African women to grow their business from micro to macro enterprises. The Agreement establishing the AfCFTA recognises the need to build and improve the export capacity of both formal and informal service suppliers, with particular attention to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in which women and youth actively participate. Furthermore, the AfCFTA Protocols on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Policy provide clear guidelines to ensure emerging enterprises and infant industries are protected thus adding impetus to the Agenda 2063 goals of gender equality, women empowerment and youth development. Through the AfCFTA, informal and micro and small enterprises will be integrated into the continental markets breaking the barriers...

Conversation on market access has always been an interesting one. especially when it involves regional trade. A lot of factors come into play when this is mentioned. A lot of information is not readily available to players to make an informed decision with, whereas for the readily available information, players do not know about this fact. The regional business body has noticed this and has organised a workshop to iron out some of these issues. They have rolled out this project in Burundi. In partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the East African Business Council (EABC) and the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industries Burundi (CFCIB) and Association of the Traders of Burundi (ACOBU) are carrying out a workshop for trade practitioners in Burundi on the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). This workshop has been organized as part of the European Union-East African Community Market Access Programme (MARKUP), the event will take place in Kayanza Province, Burundi. It comes hot in heels after successfully holding similar national events in Dar es salaam and Kilimanjaro-Tanzania, Nairobi and Mombasa-Kenya, and in Uganda the TFA workshop in Kayanza – aims to equip Burundi and, more broadly, East African local business-support associations and traders, with a comprehensive knowledge of the TFA with a view to identify obstacles to cross-border and advocate for their removal. The TFA workshops will also be held in Kigali-Rwanda, Zanzibar as well. The training has been developed in response to persistent delays and red tape hampering the...

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has partnered two international bodies to equip exporters and companies in the export trade business with the relevant skills to face emerging challenges. The authority collaborated with the Institute of Export and International Trade (IOE) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) to launch a one-year online diploma programme in export trade aimed at building the requisite human resource for the sector. The programme was launched yesterday as part of efforts by the export trade facilitation and promotion body to prepare businesses to take advantage of the opportunities under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It is also meant to strengthen them in the face of risks emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic. At the launch in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, Dr Afua Asabea Asare, said it was only by empowering Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to be globally competitive that we could talk about building their productive capacity to integrate global value chains and take advantage of trade opportunities externally. “One of the ways we can do this is to encourage participants to sign up for this one-year modular programme. Advances in globalisation and international trade mean career prospects in the industry are both lucrative and abundant,” she said. According to her, the speed at which Covid-19 spread around the world was a reminder of the risks associated with the deepening process of globalisation. “The up-side is that there is a growing demand for persons who understand the management and operational...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the African Union Commission’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development (AUC-DARBE) have launched a guide to boosting intra-African agricultural trade under the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. The AfCFTA began trading on 1 January 2021 and is the largest free trade area in the world in terms of the number of countries covered. It represents a market of 1.2 billion consumers. The Framework for Boosting Intra-African Trade in Agricultural Commodities and Services is a blueprint for expanding agricultural trade between African countries and aims to unlock the potential of the agricultural sector to contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth for Africa. Increased trade represents a paradigm shift away from business as usual and is an important part of the collaborative work towards boosting food security and nutrition for all Africans. “The Framework provides a timely catalyst for the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems, sustainable development and prosperity in Africa. A key priority is the pursuit of industrial transformation policies and programmes that support the private sector to add value to African exports, compete with imports from outside Africa and expand opportunities for job creation,” FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel, African Union Commissioner Josefa Sacko, and AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene jointly stated in the publication’s foreword. Africa is a net food-importing region of commodities such as cereals, meat, dairy products, fats, oils and...

ANKARA (AA) – Africa needs to step up productive and infrastructural integration amid COVID-19 economic recovery process, suggested a report. African Regional Integration Index (ARII), a joint publication of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission, provides up-to-date data on the status of regional integration in Africa. The report assessed the regional integration status and efforts of the countries that are members of the eight regional economic communities recognized by the African Union. The report welcomed the recent endorsement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by more than 50 African countries. “It is time for quantum leaps. Regional integration is the glue that will make that happen.” AfCFTA is a free trade area founded in 2018, with trade commencing as of Jan. 1 2021. It was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. Africa’s economic growth is projected to exceed 4% in 2019-2020, an increase from 3.5% in 2018. The report said for free trade to happen seamlessly, African countries need to implement the Protocol on the Free Movement of People, which will in turn enable traders and investors to operate beyond their national borders. Spurred by AfCFTA, more than 40% of African countries are projected to post growth of at least 5% this year as commodity prices rise and domestic demand and infrastructure investments boost growth, according to the report. Jean-Guy Afrika, the African Development Bank’s Acting Director for the...

In Summary Ambassador Paul Mukumbya, the new Uganda Consul General to Mombasa made the observation during a courtesy call on the KPA Acting Managing Director Rashid Salim. Ambassador Mukumbya further thanked the KPA management for the provision of high service standards and for being responsive to issues raised by the Uganda business community. As the second quarter of 2021 unfolds, what is the state of the manufacturing sector?  At the beginning of the year, we were optimistic that we would see economic recovery after being hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic last year. Currently, our economy is in a frail state–the spiraling debt, high cost of doing business, corruption, an inefficient transport and logistics system, policy unpredictability and instability as well as rolling back of measures put in place to cushion the economy from the effects of the pandemic, which continue to hinder our competitiveness and productivity. What are the biggest challenges the sector is facing during this pandemic period? From a KAM, KPMG survey conducted last year, manufacturers saw reduced demand, faced challenges in sourcing for raw materials, cash flow challenges and reduced working hours which drove down production and output. The effect is more severe for SMEs, who face challenges in meeting their financial obligations. Despite these challenges, they did not increase the cost of their goods and even supported the country during the difficult period. To cushion businesses from the impact of the pandemic, government developed measures, such as reduction in tax rates and directives to make...

Summary The formation of a new ministry of Investment and her warning to Tanzania Revenue Authority to stop a crackdown on the private sector and other tax defaulters, are two major events that could signal a shift in trade policy change. There is excitement in the air over President Samia Suluhu assumption of power in Tanzania with pundits putting their money on improved intra trade within the East African Community. The formation of a new ministry of Investment and her warning to Tanzania Revenue Authority to stop a crackdown on the private sector and other tax defaulters, are two major events that could signal a shift in trade policy change. “We are excited at what we are witnessing unfold in Tanzania. President Samia is a member of the EAC Heads of State summit. We support any vision that transforms Tanzania or the EAC,” said Dr Peter Mathuki, incoming EAC secretary general and CEO, East African Business Council. The clamour for press freedom received a boast on Tuesday when President Suluhu ordered the lifting of a ban to media outlets. President Suluhu has hinted at major changes in the country’s response to Covid-19 pandemic. Isolationism Mr Magufuli had promoted herbal remedies for Covid-19, rejected vaccines, refused to release any data on confirmed cases and claimed to have eliminated the virus from his country last year, isolating further Tanzania from the rest of the world. Only last month, after many top officials had died or become ill, did he acknowledge that the...