Ugandans can now travel to Kenya using the 44.5 Kilometre-long Bumbobi-Lwakhakha road, into Bungoma County, western Kenya. The road, which was commissioned on Tuesday by President Yoweri Museveni, has been upgraded to tarmac from all-weather courtesy of a Ush140 billion ($37.6 million loan from the African Development Bank in 2016. The road is expected to deepen regional integration and cross border trade with Kenya, and offers an alternative to the Busia and Malaba border crossings. It also connects to a mineral rich area with gold, uranium, iron ore and lake sand and is projected to open doors to tourism. Traders from both countries have for long used this shorter route to Kenya. Uganda is also constructing the Kapchorwa-Suam road. Uganda Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde told The EastAfrican that the road will also benefit South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda all of which use the route as a transit point for most of their inbound and outbound cargo. “Kenya is our main connection to the outside world by sea and having such roads built will greatly improve trade not just between the two countries but within the entire region. Doing business will be cheaper and transportation of goods will be faster,” she said. Kenya is Uganda’ biggest trade partner with Uganda importing goods worth $600 million from Kenya while Kenya imports goods worth about $500 million from Uganda. According to government projections, the road will also improve access to the “socio-economic facilities and the quality of transport service levels”...

Elegu, 10 November 2020: TradeMark Africa, the regional trade facilitating agency has handed over Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Elegu One Stop Border Post (OSBP) frontline staff and informal cross border traders. The delivery of PPEs at Elegu OSBP comes at the back of concentrated efforts undertaken by the Government of Uganda and its partners to further curb the spread of the novel COVID-19 virus that continues to cause havoc across the world. The PPE presented at Elegu OSBP were funded by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) through TradeMark Africa’s Safe Trade Emergency Facility. Other OBSPs that have already benefited from this Safe Trade initiative are Busia and Mutukula. Ulrik Jorgensen, Counsellor and Teamleader Growth Team at the Denmark in Uganda Embassy and Damali Ssali, the acting country director for TradeMark Africa, Uganda delivered the PPE to Elegu OSBP. On hand to receive the PPE was Abel Kagumire, the Commissioner Customs at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). The equipment provided includes infrared thermometers, re-usable safety boots, full protective PPE, filtering facepiece respirator, reusable masks, plastic face shield. While receiving the PPE, Abel Kagumire, the URA commissioner customs underscored the significance of the Elegu OSBP as a strategic border for Uganda. “As a country, we look at Elegu border as a strategic border for growing our exports. We have a lot of agricultural produce in Uganda which is needed in South Sudan. That is why we come up with processes that help facilitate exports. We are challenging our people to add value...

Uganda’s cabinet has approved a proposal to finance the refurbishment of the Kampala-Malaba meter gauge railway project, Chimp Corps report. The Uganda Media Centre said in a statement on Tuesday rehabilitating the railway line would “accelerate Uganda’s competitiveness by providing efficient freight and passenger services to country.” This, said government, would eventually lead to “reduced costs of doing business, generation of revenue to sustain own operations, improved incomes and a better life for the population.” The project is expected to cost Shs 1.4 trillion. The development comes at a time the country is grappling with high costs of road transport. The cost of transporting a 40 feet container of goods from Mombasa Port to Kampala is US$3600 compared to railway transportation, which is US$1800. Transport and logistics costs account for about 50% of the value of goods and services to Uganda. President Museveni recently launched the Tororo-Gulu Railway line and the construction of the Gulu logistics Hub in Gulu City. Museveni said the train, which last reached its terminal in northern Uganda in August 1986 will be revived in a more concrete way because government considers it as major infrastructure priority. The 273 km line between Kampala (Uganda) and Malaba (Kenya) is a key route for Uganda exports through the port of Mombasa in Kenya. This line passes through 9 administrative districts namely, Tororo, Butaleja, Iganga, Mayuge, Jinja, Buikwe, Mukono, Wakiso and Kampala. The refurbished Malaba-Kampala railway line will go a long way in diverting cargo from road to rail...

Trade and environmental policies working in concert are vital for unlocking a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and ensuring future resilience to climate change and other environmental disruptions, speakers said at the 16 November online high-level event organized by the WTO and the UN Environment Programme as part of Trade and Environment Week 2020. Policy makers must use the current window of opportunity to build back a greener and more inclusive global economy, they said. “The pandemic has become a stark reminder that nature, human health and the economy are not separate. Rather, they are intimately connected,” WTO Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff said. “The right trade policies would help us not only to get back on track and recover some of the time lost to the crisis from an economic perspective, but also to shift toward a more sustainable and inclusive future,” he said. DDG Wolff highlighted areas where the WTO has acted in support of sustainable trade and where members could redouble efforts to make further progress, highlighting trade opening in environmental goods and services, new initiatives to intensify trade and environment discussions and help combat plastic pollution, Aid for Trade, and further collaboration with the environmental community. His full remarks are available here. UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Anderson affirmed the importance of collaboration. “We are very committed to our partnership with WTO, all the more so when we see the shock the pandemic has caused. Having ministers of environment and trade engage together becomes absolutely...

In summary UNCTAD Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi How the AfCFTA facilitates the revival and growth of African small businesses will be key to its success as an engine for Africa’s economic renaissance. E-commerce can lower entry barriers and help connect MSMEs with global markets and value chains by providing the services needed to facilitate their exports. ITC plans to provide capacity building and advisory services to enhance the continental business environment, strengthen national and regional trade support institutions, and improve business competitiveness. African Continental Free Trade Area agreement aims at accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening the continent’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations. Young entrepreneurs in East Africa have been urged to embrace e-commerce and reap from a $26 trillion (Sh2.8 trillion) global online sales market ahead of Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) kick off next year. International Trade Centre (ITC) Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton said online marketplaces could drive inclusive growth across Africa, with e-commerce likely to create as many as three million jobs by 2025. Speaking during a forum dubbed Trade Beyond Covid19: Unpacking the AfCFTA for East Africa in Nairobi, she said ditching outdated business models for e-commerce would drive intra-regional trade and attract benefits. “This can open markets to otherwise isolated rural communities, servicing Africa’s fast-growing consumer market, and offer women access to new business opportunities” she said. Implementation of AfCFTA in Eastern Africa could result in welfare gains of $1.8 billion (Sh197 billion), a...

Tea Association of Malawi (Taml) has unveiled plans to expand tea-growing hectarage to increase tea output by asking the government to consider allocation of land in some parts of the country. The development comes after Taml noted that land is now scarce in the production areas of Mulanje, Thyolo and Nkhata Bay to expand tea cultivation in estates. Taml board chairperson Sangwani Hara said this in an interview on Friday in Salima on the sidelines of the Gender Learning and Sustainability Symposium that currently tea cultivation is on about 18 000 hectares and output has been hovering around 50 million kilogrammes (kg) annually in recent years, up from 40 million kg about 10 years ago. He said: “We could do more if we planted more hectares of tea. We have been discussing with the government to see whether Public Private Partnership [PPP] can be considered for increasing production. “We are discussing with the government to consider allocation of land some of which was identified in public forests which can be done in a PPP arrangement”. On sexual harassment issues against women in the sector, Hara acknowledged that around 2014, there were reports of sexual harassment against women by some supervisors who were demanding sexual favours from women in return for employment. Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Patricia Kaliati expressed concern about reports that women are sexually harassed in the tea industry and paid less than men. She called on Taml to build on the existing economic interventions...

n November 15, 15 countries in East Asia and the Pacific signed the Regional Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), creating the world’s largest trading bloc. This signing arguably marks one of the most remarkable responses of global leaders to the global protectionist trends witnessed since 2016. RCEP negotiations started in 2012 with 16 countries including the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Even with India’s eventual withdrawal in 2019, the agreement is still the world’s largest, encompassing 30 percent of global GDP and 27 percent of global merchandise trade (Figure 1). RCEP also comprises over 18 percent of services trade and 19 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows. Driven by China, the RCEP trade bloc has gained prominence in global trade and investment, and has outstripped the growth of large high-income trade blocs over the past decades. The remarkable growth of China and Southeast Asian economies is reflected in the rising share of the RCEP bloc in global GDP, trade, and FDI over the past two decades (Figure 1). This has also propelled the RCEP to overtake trading blocs, which were much larger at the beginning of the century, including the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the European Union (Figure 2). GOOD NEWS FOR MEMBER COUNTRIES, PARTICULARLY NON-ASEAN RCEP deepens trade and investment relations between member countries mainly through reductions in non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on goods and services trade. The agreement focuses on NTBs as import tariffs were...

With COP, the G7 and a new White House administration there are plenty of opportunities for Britain to continue its world leading role in protecting freedom and prosperity. While the recent focus of foreign relations has been the Special Relationship and whether or not we get a Brexit Deal, one region often overlooked by decision makers is UK relations with African nations. As an entrepreneur with deep ties across Africa, I have seen first-hand the incredible opportunities that aid can provide the continent. Africa’s combined GDP is set to reach $3.2 trillion in the next five years and is home to five of the world’s fastest-growing economies. With these opportunities ahead of us, now is not the time to abandon our promise to spend 0.7% on UK aid and development. By providing lifesaving aid, we help stimulate economic growth and job creation, which in turn ensures that our development partners of today, become our trading partners of tomorrow. I firmly believe that most businesses in the UK that have been able to invest in the Global South have been able to do so because of the development expertise provided by British aid workers and supported by successive Conservative Governments. As an entrepreneur who has worked in Africa I have experienced this partnership first hand. I have developed business across East Africa and helped to create over 5000 ethical jobs in Kenya alone. These jobs were not created on the cheap and my own business was rated as one of the...

Manufacturers have launched standards aimed at enhancing efficiency and accountability at the ports and border points in the country. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) developed by Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) seek to ensure better and more efficient entry operations to facilitate trade and enhance the fight against illicit trade. Speaking at the Launch event on Tuesday, Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina highlighted the government’s commitment to sustain the fight against illicit trade in the country, adding that the vice poses a great threat to the realization of the Government’s Big 4 Agenda. ‘Our ports and other points of entry play a fundamental role in facilitating global trade. The development of these SOPs is therefore an integral part of a successful quality system. They will provide information to perform a job properly and consistently to achieve pre-determined specification and a quality end-result,’ said CS Maina. ‘I assure the private sector of government’s commitment to continue enhancing efficiencies and accountability during the inspection, verification, and clearance of imported goods at our ports of entry. Sustaining the fight against various forms of illicit trade shall enhance the realization of the Government’s Big 4 Agenda,’ she added. Speaking on behalf of the Deputy Head of Public Service and the National Coordinator for enforcement Multi-Agency Team against Illicit Trade Wanyama Musiambo, Ms. Fridah Kaberia, Ag. Executive Director, Anti-Counterfeit Authority noted that, ‘The fight against illicit trade must be enhanced and intensified. We applaud KAM for developing the SOPS. This is an attempt to bring...

In this opinion piece, Prof. Agnes Binagwaho, M.D., MPEd, Ph.D. — vice-chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity in Kigali, Rwanda — and her research associate Kedest Mathewos explain why African countries fared much better than their Western counterparts in the fight against COVID-19. In 2019, the Global Health Security Index ranked countries according to their preparedness for pandemics. The United States was identified as the most prepared country, while most African countries were deemed to be least capable of dealing with any new health threat. Further entrenching this perspective of Africa’s lack of preparedness, Africa as a continent was predicted to have 10 million COVID-19-related deaths. However, this prediction could not have been more wrong, with African countries contributing to only 3.6% of cases and 3.6% of COVID-19 deaths worldwide as of November 13. In the past few months, scientists, global health professionals, and journalists have attempted to explain Africa’s unexpected response to the pandemic. However, these explanations often fail to recognize the reasons behind the prompt response of African countries to the pandemic. Swift response at the continental level Throughout the past 11 months, we have seen that borders do not prevent the spread of this crisis, be it in health or economic sectors. The pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has now spread to more than 217 countries and territories to date. The economic crisis has not spared any country, with the global economy expected to shrink by 5.3% this year. In order to provide a concerted response to this global pandemic, African countries leveraged...