In Summary According to the World Bank, the Covid-19 pandemic is set to cost East Africa partner states between $37 billion to $79 billion in output losses. The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) says ready to resolve some of the bottlenecks the region is facing. There is need for deeper collaborations between the public and private sector to boost intra-EAC trade and investment, industry players have said, as the region wades through Covid-19 effects on economies. During a consultative CEOs roundtable meeting organized by the East African Business Council (EABC) in collaboration with GIZ, in Arusha, the industry captains noted that the region's economies are interdependent hence need close collaboration. Dubbed 'Creating Perspectives Project', the Thursday forum brought together company chief executives in Arusha, with the aim of deliberating on approaches that the private sector can explore to revamp their businesses amid the pandemic. The business leaders have lauded the Tanzanian government for its commitment towards sustainable economic growth, following the attainment of the middle-income status from the World Bank, this year. The leaders also noted that the decision to keep the economy open, offered the private sector a major relief in terms of business resilience as it also strengthened local supply chains. This happens in the background of a recent report by the African Development Bank (AfDB), indicating that Tanzania’s economy is estimated to grow at 5.5 per cent in 2020, recording the highest growth in the region. During the meeting, EABC CEO, Peter Mathuki called upon businesses to...

The Government will address the issues facing Kenyan motorists at the Busia and Malaba borders, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr Rashid Aman has said. The traders from Kenya have severally raised complaints that the government of Uganda does not recognize their COVID-19 certificates from Kenya which forces them to undergo new tests at a cost. “This is a diplomatic matter and government is handling it to reduce the cost of business for Kenyans,” said Aman. Aman who was accompanied by Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti, his Deputy Hamilton Orata and the Director-General of Health Patrick Amoth, warned Kenyans not to loosen their belts in the fight against the virus. He was speaking at Homa Bay County Referral Hospital where he said Kenya had not reached a level at which the World Health Organization (WHO) can declare it to have flattened the curve for the virus infections. He said the WHO requires a country to record COVID-19 positivity rates of below 5 per cent for two weeks consecutively to be declared a flattened curve. “We are headed towards the right direction in the management of COVID-19 but this should not make Kenyans relax. There is a possibility that relenting in prevention measures can lead to the escalation of cases,” Aman said. The CAS told Kenyans to continue observing the coronavirus prevention measures such as putting on masks, maintaining social distance, washing hands among other protocols. On his part, Dr Amoth urged county governments to equip all sub-county hospitals to augment the...

Kenya’s exports to South Sudan in the first quarter of the year have grown three folds to stand at Kshs 9.07 billion compared to the same period last year, data from Kenya Exports Promotion and Branding Agency shows. According to Top 25 Export Markets Trends report by KEPROBA, the East African Community member state imports from Kenya surged by 198.9 percent as compared to Kshs 3.03 billion registered between January and March last year. “The increase was in the exports of edible food preparations, vegetables, processed cereals, flour, and cooking oils and printed matter and motor vehicles.” KEPROBA said. The rise in exports to South Sudan was only second to the United Arab Emirates whose exports rose by 24.1 percent to stand at Kshs 14.74 billion driven by tea, meat products, vegetables, and petroleum oil products. However, Uganda still remains Kenya’s top export destination in the first quarter with Kshs 19.95 billion which increased 14.5 percent to account for 10.5 percent of total exports during the period. Also Read Co-op Bank signs Ksh 500M fertilizer distributor financing with YARA Total exports in the first quarter of 2020 slightly grew by 12.5 percent to stand at Kshs 189 billion from Khs 168.48 billion over the same period in 2019. Imports similarly grew 0.2 percent to register Kshs 452.52 billion from Kshs 451.44 billion recorded during the same quarter last year. The balance of trade deficit slightly improved to Kshs 259.20 billion from Ksh 280.80 billion in the period according to KEPROBA....

 As the country prepares to open its skies, Uganda Airlines has developed routes in Africa and is set to join other airlines in the intercontinental market by December this year. Moreover, the country has put in plans to boost border infrastructure for stronger regional trade. Economic Analyst Charles Bwogi spoke with CNBC Africa for more. Read the original article

In a statement, KPA Managing Director Rashid Salim says the extension is in line with the Authority’s continuous and deliberate efforts of cushioning customers on effects of COVID-19 which has impacted the whole transport logistics chain. “The Authority wishes to announce to the general public that the free storage period that we had granted to our customers on 18th May for a period of 90 days has been extended for another 90 days,” Salim spoke of the period which lapses in Mid-November. In the 90-day window period, importers will get additional storage days, subject to review after the validity period, depending on the business dynamics. Transit Import Containers at the ICD Naivasha are the biggest winners with an additional 30 days of free storage. Import Containers on transit at the ICD Embakasi will get 14 free days, up from an initial 9 days. Meanwhile, export containers on transit will get 20 free storage days up from 15 days. Domestic export containers will also have additional days from 9 to 15. However, domestic import containers have not had their days increased and will remain at 4 free storage days. Read the original article

SUMMARY Kenya’s expenditure on imports in July rose 14 per cent month-on-month to Sh138.76 billion, signalling increased trade activity in the economy as countries continue to ease measures put in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) also reveals a continuous increase in the country’s export earnings to Sh52 billion in July from a low of Sh43 billion April. July’s consumption of imported goods was the second-highest this year after January’s Sh155 billion. The country’s import bill fell to a low of Sh108 billion in May as a result of the pandemic. Kenya’s expenditure on imports in July rose 14 per cent month-on-month to Sh138.76 billion, signalling increased trade activity in the economy as countries continue to ease measures put in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) also reveals a continuous increase in the country’s export earnings to Sh52 billion in July from a low of Sh43 billion April. July’s consumption of imported goods was the second highest this year after January’s Sh155 billion. The country’s import bill fell to a low of Sh108 billion in May as a result of the pandemic. Consequently, due to the lower imports in the April to June period, the trade deficit for the first seven months of 2020 narrowed by 19.5 per cent to Sh546 billion from Sh678.9 billion reported over a similar period last year. At the onset of the pandemic global trade...

International trade and investment have always relied on the cross-border mobility of individuals. Transporting goods across borders involves humans, and will do so for the foreseeable future despite important technological advances. In addition, face-to-face contact continues to play a critical role in addressing some of the information and transaction costs involved in trading goods internationally. Physical proximity between producers and consumers is essential for many types of services trade. In some instances, this proximity is achieved when individuals cross international borders. Indeed, the temporary cross-border movement of natural persons is one of the four modes (i.e. mode-4) through which services may be traded in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), while services purchased abroad by consumers is another (mode-2). Individual mobility is also a factor beyond these two modes, since business travel is frequently part of services provision through the establishment of a commercial presence abroad (mode-3) or remotely, for instance online (mode-1). Indeed, the modes of supplying services are often bundled, with varying degrees of substitutability amongst them. In this sense, human mobility constitutes services trade in its own right, while also enabling trade in goods and other services. With the objective of containing the Covid-19 pandemic, governments around the world have imposed temporary travel or immigration restrictions, which have severely restricted the cross- border movement of individuals. While these mobility-related measures are not motivated by trade considerations, but by public health reasons, they have a significant impact on trade. Perhaps paradoxically, this has brought into sharper...

The SOPs were developed by a team of experts in cargo transport, Warehousing, Freight Forwarding, Customs clearance and Public health. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) spelt out by the logistics industry stakeholders to contain the spread of Covid 19 through EAC’s supply chain as the industry copes with the ‘new normal’ are being finalized. Materials for sensitization campaign have already been developed and reviewed by the industry stakeholders including the East African Community (EAC), the East African Business Council (EABC) and World Health Organization (WHO) representatives in the region. “EAC has so far given its input on the Covid-19 SOPs and the sensitization materials. WHO have also reviewed the COVID19 messages to be used in the sensitization of campaign as other stakeholders share their input before full roll-out soon,” Fred Seka, Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) president said. Since the COVID19 messages have been sanctioned by WHO, FEAFFA will work closely with the Ministries of Health in each partner state and other industry stakeholders to complement efforts geared towards stopping the spread of the virus especially among the customs agents, freight forwarders, warehouse operators and truckers, added Seka. “Furthermore, the messages are customized in adherence to partner states’ protocols and EAC guidelines on COVID19,” Seka said. Trademark East Africa (TMA) is supporting the initiative through FEAFFA, the regional apex body of freight forwarders in East Africa. It is being rolled out in collaboration with the Kenya Transporters Association (KTA), Regional Lorry Drivers and Drivers Association (RLDA), Tanzania...

In the Business Think Tank today, Smart24 TV’s Kamweya Tushabe will encourage our panel of experts to talk about the ‘Economic Contribution of Women in Informal Cross-border Trading’. The panelists are: Jane Nalunga, the executive director of SEATINI Jacob Siminyu, the spokesperson of the ministry of Internal Affairs Connie Kihembo, the CEO of Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL) Sarah Jesca Agwang, programme coordinator (Women’s Economic Justice and Empowerment) at Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) Sheila Kawamara, the chief executive of EASSI ( The Eastern African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women. Follow this link to watch the event live Before Covid-19, Uganda enjoyed a booming cross-border informal trade, 80% of which was being done by women as their sole source of income. Research by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), (2018) notes that informal cross-border trade is still rampant at over 40% of all intra-regional trade Over the past decade, increasing the participation of women in cross-border trade has been a key focus area for stakeholders in trade, including the Government, through the ministries of trade and the East African Community affairs and development partners, including TradeMark Africa (TMA), USAID and the Eastern African Sub Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women. Policies have been instituted to increase the participation of informal cross-border women traders to boost their incomes, improve living standards, and contribute to the country’s overall economic development. Data from the Bank of Uganda (BOU) indicates that informal cross-border exports fetched the country...

Unlike anything before it, the Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of harmonising legislation governing the transport of goods across borders. This was the message from all four speakers at the second webinar hosted by the Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) earlier this month. The webinar explored Covid-19’s impact on freight and logistics, and was addressed by Transnet group chief executive Portia Derby, TradeMark Africa senior director of transport Abhishek Sharma, and International Road Transport Union senior advisors Jens Hügel and Kazeem Asayesh. The view of every speaker was that harmonising the legislation that governs cross-border good transit would bolster economies by reducing transport and warehousing costs, and thus increase individual countries’ resilience in the face of economic crises. Sub-Saharan Africa had taken several hard knocks due to the pandemic, which had caused significant supply chain disruptions that had led to shortages of vital commodities such as food and medicines, said Sharma. “The sub-Saharan region is not the only one to feel the negative effects of the pandemic on freight and logistics,” said Hügel. The IRU is a global road transport organisation representing companies that provide transport, mobility and logistics services in more than 80 countries across the world. Globally, movement restrictions, health screening, and border controls and closures – put in place to ward off the virus that caused Covid-19 – had led to an estimated 18% average decline in annual turnover for goods transported by road, Hügel said. The Asia-Pacific and Middle East-North Africa regions are the worst...