TANZANIA and Rwanda have agreed to meet at the end of this month to discuss and address various bottlenecks that impede smooth flow of trade between them. Rwandan High Commissioner to Tanzania, Maj.Gen. Charles Karamba unveiled this in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday in a brief meeting with the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), aimed at cementing trade relations between the countries. Speaking at the meeting, the TPSF official, Mr Kennedy Rwehumbiza said one of the trading barriers include Rwanda's refusal to accept Covid-19 test certificates from Tanzania and denial of Tanzanians truck drivers to cross Rwanda border, who want to off load cargos at the border, thus causing delay, increase cost and time of doing business. "Despite the agreement between the two countries, there are still challenges to facilitate transit of perishable, petroleum and transit goods via Rwanda," he said, adding that: On the other side, he added, Rwanda has been hesitating to use Dar es Salaam port due to un-harmonized trade policies, congestion (at the port), numerous checkpoints along the route, and theft, among others. He said that despite the challenges, the statistics show that Rwanda imports from Tanzania was 224.54 million US dollars and Rwanda exports to Tanzania 5.1 million US dollars during 2019, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Responding, the High Commissioner stressed that: "I see the meeting is of importance and should take place in these few coming days, and include Private Foundations of both sides and other stakeholders, mostly...

Trademark East Africa (TMA) partnered with the Burundi Federal Chambers of Commerce (CFCIB) signed a Public Private Dialogue project in Burundi worth this Wednesday 9th. September, 2020. The project is expected to last for 2 years aiming at providing a platform to expose communication challenges for Burundi traders as well as trade Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs). The project comes midst coronavirus pandemic where Burundian traders encountered several challenges related to the free movement of goods and the lack of enough information on trade, customs, and goods clearance procedure. The country representative of TMA Christian Nibasumba while launching the project focused on its importance as it will enable and provide materials on key trade procedures and drive the evolvement of trade and environment affairs in Burundi and in the region. “We intend to come up with solutions of different challenges that affects businesses in transport and logistics affiliated to it, facilitating trade along with industry in general to reduce different existing barriers, to harmonize customs procedures, and at last enhance standard and phytosanitary norms”, said Mr. Nibasumba. The project is expected to reinforce the technical capacity of CFCIB together with sectorial chambers and hand over clear support to the National Committee of Non-Tariff barriers to allow them to become proactive first-actors of this East African Community region. Among key takers of the Public Private Dialogue, the project targets and concentrates on advocacy on PSOs (Public Safety Officers) institution support as well as provide a platform of dialogue on trade facilitation such as...

This presentation was made by Ms. Gloria Atuheirwe of Trade Mark East Africa during the Virtual public forum on the Plight of Women Traders during the COVID-19 pandemic; Trade in Services, Trade in Goods and the Policy Environment held on Thursday, 10th September 2020. [download id="55709"] Read original article

Amina Mohamed, the Kenyan candidate for the position of Director General at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has promised to advance an open trading system once given the mandate. She made this promise while addressing a virtual meeting with East African Community business leaders this week. Mohamed is the only candidate from the region for the WTO top job. The regional business community has expressed confidence in the candidature of Mohamed, buoyed by her promise to steer reforms towards eliminating trade barriers and implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement if selected. The virtual meeting which took place on Wednesday was convened by the East African Business Council (EABC), which brought together industry captains from the region to deliberate on deepening relations between the private sector in East Africa and WTO. Speaking from Geneva, Mohamed told the meeting that once given the mandate, she will push for a vibrant multi-lateral trading system to boost Africa’s trade. “If I was selected, I would be a strong advocate for an open trading system. I’d also be a leader in reforming the system and particularly in recovering the economy from the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said. According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa, businesses in African countries currently face higher tariffs when they export within Africa than outside the continent. “If we eliminated the current overall average tariffs of 6.1 percent in Africa, we would actually double intra-Africa trade among African countries, from 15% to 30%. If we also eliminate some...

Arusha — Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa's largest economy, is keen on increased trade links with the East African Community (EAC). Outgoing Nigerian High Commissioner to Tanzania Sahabi Issa Gada, said his country was ready for deeper relations with the EA bloc. "There is a need to encourage deeper integration through business exchanges," he said when he paid a visit to the EAC headquarters here. Dr Gada, who was also accredited to the EAC, said increased trade between the two sides would boost the economies of the same. He did not give any statistics but trade between Nigeria, also the most populous country in Africa, is often reported to below. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nigeria's economy is worth more than $ 500 billion and $1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP and purchasing power parity respectively. It is often seen as a 'Giant of Africa' owing to its large population of 206 million, a strong economy and an emerging market by the World Bank. EAC Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko stressed the need for stronger collaboration between EAC and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas He said although the EAC has made some milestones, it was now bound to focus on a few priority areas "that will produce impactful results to the lives of EA citizens". He added: "Integration is not an easy movement as it needs vision, courage and commitment of the partner states to propel the agenda." He stressed the need for Ecowas and EAC to...

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has given the Kenyan economy a positive outlook saying it will adjust its growth projection next month. The fund which had projected economic growth of 0.3 percent this year says the economy has shown strong signs of resilience beating many expectations. According to the IMF Resident Representative for Kenya Tobias Rasmussen, the change in outlook is supported by an improvement in several economic indicators. IMF says there will be an “upward revision” of its June forecast for the Kenyan economy where it had warned that the CODIV-19 pandemic will see the Kenyan economy shrink by 0.3 percent in 2020. The fund says there has been an upturn in most activity indicators looking at the numbers coming out of Kenya and it’s fair to say that the outruns here have so far been better its expectations. The National Treasury expects the Kenyan economy to grow by just 2.5 percent due to COVID-19 induced economic slowdowns. When the first case of the virus was reported in Kenya n Marc this year, the government responded by closing the airspace, imposing dusk to dawn curfew, and curtailing inter-county movements. These measures have so far been lifted as the number of cases continues to decline. Renaissance Capital forecasts Kenya’s economy to grow at 1.5 percent in 2020 driven by superior agricultural yields and strong export of flowers and horticultural goods. Read original article

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 12- The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has launched a new COVID-19 cross-border trade report urging governments on the continent to adopt and harmonize policies that will help continent strike an appropriate balance between curbing the spread of the virus and facilitating emergency and essential trade. Titled Facilitating cross-border trade through a coordinated African response to COVID-19, the report says continued inefficiencies and disruptions to cross-border trade presented significant challenges for Africa’s fight against COVID-19, and risked holding back the continent’s progress towards the attainment of the sustainable development and goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063. Maintaining trade flows as much as possible during the pandemic will be crucial in providing access to essential food and much-needed medical items and in limiting negative impacts on jobs and poverty, said Stephen Karingi, Director of the ECA’s Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) that penned the report. To curtail the rapid spread of the virus, African nations introduced lockdowns and various restrictions that negatively affected cross-border and transit freight transportation. The border restrictions and regulations have helped minimize infections and deaths across the continent but had a negative impact on cross-border trade and economic activity, hindering both significantly. The report recommends that African nations should cooperate and harmonize COVID-19 border regulations to reduce delays, while not undermining the safety of trade. It proposes fast tracking implementation of existing Regional Economic Community (REC) COVID-19 guidelines, including establishing regional coordinating committees with the primary task of addressing operational issues at national borders....

SUMMARY Immigration plays a pivotal role in economic growth and development. At a basic level, it determines who enters or departs a country. The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and operations, creating new challenges as well as opportunities. The pandemic has also highlighted immigration issues that need to be addressed. Immigration plays a pivotal role in economic growth and development. At a basic level, it determines who enters or departs a country. One condition of entry is that a visitor or returning resident should not carry any contagious disease, which is why many countries have imposed cross-border movement protocols like border closures and lockdowns to curb spread of the pandemic. However, as its impact evolves, it is becoming clear that the effective management of the pandemic requires reengineering of immigration processes, policies, precepts and practices. East African Community (EAC) partner states have approached the pandemic from different vantage points. While South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda imposed lockdowns, Tanzania and Burundi closely monitored the situation without interrupting day-to-day movement and activities. Kenya, on the other hand, opted for a curfew and the cessation of movement. All countries in the region closed their borders but have continued to allow cargo movement and approve the evacuation of foreign nationals. The different and evolving reactions to the pandemic have had many immigration ramifications. Many people have found themselves locked out of their domiciles. To ease immigrations, Ugandan and Kenyan authorities recently automated regularisation services. Even so, five immigration concerns still need to be addressed:...

Tanzania and Uganda have signed an agreement allowing for the construction of a 1,445 km (898 miles) crude oil pipeline. The $3.5bn (£2.7m) project will connect Uganda's oil fields to Tanzania's port of Tanga. The signing ceremony was attended by the presidents of both countries. Oil reserves were found in Uganda in 2006 but production has been delayed partly by a lack of infrastructure including an export pipeline. A start date for construction has not yet been announced for what is set to become East Africa's first major oil pipeline. But there are warnings the project could come at a huge cost to some Ugandan communities. Uganda country profile More than 12,000 families risk losing their land and livelihoods, according to a joint report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Oxfam. Conservationists have also warned that ecosystems are at risk from the drilling in Uganda's nature reserves. French oil giant Total is leading the plans along with China's CNOOC, and the governments of Uganda and Tanzania. Sunday's ceremony comes days after Total, the majority shareholder in Uganda's oil fields, said it had reached an agreement on the pipeline with Uganda's government. About 80% of the pipeline will run through Tanzania and the project is expected to create more than 18,000 jobs for Tanzanians, Reuters news agency quotes government spokesman Hassan Abassi as saying. Read the original article

Exporters should embrace virtual trade meetings and online sales to navigate travel challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency CEO Dr. Wilfred Marube says the agency is seeking to upgrade its ICT infrastructure, in a bid to create virtual platforms that will help mor Kenyans to participate in international exhibitions. KEPROBA is hosting 10 women exporters to a Virtual Macfrut Digital 2020 annual Trade Fair. The trade fair that is in its 37th edition was to be held in Italy in May this year but was cancelled after the COVID-19 ravaged the West Europe nation. However, the event was transferred to an online platform, where Kenya is seeking to expand its fresh produce shipments to Europe. The export and branding agency plans to create multiple platforms especially those that target women exporters. Kenya’s exports to Europe are valued at about 150 billion shillings accounting for 25.4 percent the total export value, a figure that the agency says could be increased by leveraging e-commerce and virtual trade meetings. Macfrut Trade Fair, brings together global stakeholders including exporters, importers, technicians, experts and investors in value addition, showcasing current emerging business opportunities in the fruit and vegetable sectors. Read original article