East African countries are scrambling to secure bilateral trade deals with the United Kingdom for the post-Brexit era as the current multilateral agreement nears expiry and negotiations for a new collective pact stall over ideological differences. The East African Community is racing against time to get a new deal with extensive talks expected in the coming weeks. There are only four months left until the current trade arrangement ends December 31, which gives partner states duty and quota-free access to the British market. Rwanda has been chairing the bloc’s negotiations but is also pursuing a bilateral post-Brexit deal with the UK that will offer Rwandan exports continued free access to Britain from January 2021. The Tanzanian government is renegotiating its current bilateral trade relationship with Britain in the wake of the latter’s exit from the European Union, Deputy Minister for Trade Stella Manyanya said, noting that they are looking to protect locally-made goods. Kenya is considered the most vulnerable as the country will be affected most if the EAC does not sign a multilateral post-Brexit trade deal with the UK. Being a lower-middle-income country, Nairobi’s exports would be subject to taxes and other restrictions while other member states classified as Least Developed Countries continue to enjoy unrestricted access. The EAC is supposed to have signed a draft agreement by the end of next month, but that looks highly unlikely. An initial meeting that held last week was downgraded to “consultative talks” instead of a decisive agenda-setting forum, according to a report by The EastAfrican. More...

Despite Africa’s informal sector employing more than 80 per cent of the workforce, it receives little or no attention when it comes to government’s policy plans implementation. This neglect leaves it exposed to the ravages of unavailable financing or expensive credit which slows down the achievement of the sector’s full potential in growing the various economies. While this is the general view, it gets even worse for women-owned enterprises which struggle from age-old patriarchal approaches to doing business as well as the delicate balancing act that women have to innately learn since they are the ones who also run their homes in many cases. But despite all these challenges, women in business have a big role to play in a post-covid-19 Africa and could significantly reduce the continent’s high dependence on imports of essential food, medical and pharmaceutical items. The UN Economic Commission for Africa’s Mama Keita who is the Director of ECA in Eastern Africa says, “As we are building back our economies after covid and are seeking to turn vulnerabilities into opportunities, let us recall that intra-Africa trade is still very low at less than 20 per cent and that women entrepreneurs have a big role to play in boosting this.” Speaking in a virtual meeting organized by the Office of the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes, Keita who presented the socio-economic effects of covid-19 in the Great Lakes Region emphasized how reduced economic activities stemming from lockdowns, curfew and disruption in international trade affected the region. She...

The East African Community has kicked-off national launches of the 50 Million African Women Speak Networking Platform (50MAWS), a digital platform aimed at empowering millions of women in Africa to start, grow and scale up their businesses. Gracing the national launch for the United Republic of Tanzania at the Karimjee Hall, in Dar es Salaam, Ummy Mwalimu, Minister of Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, seniors and Children, said the government of Tanzania has received the project, and was happy to embrace the initiative to further enable women to connect, network and transact business. “Implementing this project is critical in the empowerment of women in the region,” the Minister said, adding that the platform presents an opportunity to heighten the economic empowerment of women in the region. Mwalimu called upon womenfolk to pursue bigger entrepreneurial dreams, such as value addition in the value-chains and tapping the export markets. “I call upon the Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce to work with women and assist them to develop business proposals that can attract access to finance,” she added. Speaking during the same occasion, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Christophe Bazivamo, said that the 50MAWS Platform has been developed using information and content collected nationally and regionally, and therefore contains information closer to home and within reach in terms of reaching markets within the region. “I am aware that women in business present here today are already leveraging technology to market their products, designs and artworks....

Last week, the Africa Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the UK-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has released a working paper entitled “Africa trade and COVID-19: The supply chain dimension”. The paper investigates the impacts of the pandemic on trade and value chains in Africa, with a special focus on Ethiopia and Kenya, and the pharmaceutical sector. It also makes specific policy recommendations on how the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) can be reconfigured to reflect the new realities and risks of the 21st century. In this article, we focus on Chapter 2, which examines the impact of the lockdown and social distancing policies – in response to the COVID‑19 crisis – on trade volumes, commodity prices, services and investment. I. Impact on cross‑border trade In the fight against COVID‑19, almost all African countries, albeit to a differing degree, have now suspended international flights, introduced a14‑day quarantine for entrants into the country and closed land and/or maritime borders. A total of 38 of Africa’s 54 countries have now announced land closures of some form, and 17 countries have announced the closure of maritime borders. Typically, these closures are targeted at the movement of people, and there are exemptions for the movement of emergency and essential freight supplies under very strict conditions, including mandatory testing, the sanitisation of trucks, limited crew members on trucks and designated transit resting areas. This has led to an abrupt slowdown and delays in cross‑border trade,...

Kenya will not cancel the traffic rights for Tanzanian-based Precision Air that will resume flights to Nairobi Thursday amid a standoff that has seen Dar es Salaam stop three Kenyan airlines from flying there. Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) director-general Gilbert Kibe said Precision Air has an existing traffic rights that will not be nullified on the account of the stalemate between Kenya and Tanzania. Kenya Airways, whose traffic rights to Tanzania were still valid at the beginning of this month when the carrier resumed international flights, were revoked by the Tanzanian authorities on retaliatory grounds after Nairobi excluded Dar from the list of safe countries. “Precision Air has an existing traffic rights and to the best of my knowledge it will not be cancelled,” said Mr Kibe in an interview with the Business Daily. Mr Kibe said he is still engaging with his counterpart in Tanzania to resolve the current blockade imposed by Tanzania. Tanzania has banned three more Kenyan airlines from its market as a tit-for-tat trade war between the two countries escalated over the management of the coronavirus pandemic. The latest blockade came after Nairobi, for the second time in a row, retained Tanzania on the red list of nations with high risk in coronavirus cases—a position that means travellers from the neighbouring country will continue facing a mandatory two-week quarantine to curb the spread of Covid-19. Travellers from 130 nations are, however, now free to enter Kenya unrestricted following a second review in which the government added...

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS (NABN) Accra, Ghana– The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East Africa Community (EAC), and Southern African Development Community (SADC) have developed a regional electronic Corridor Trip Monitoring System (CTMS) which will allow cross border road transport operators, drivers, regulators and law enforcement agencies to record and monitor driver wellness data such as COVID-19 test results has been approved by the Tripartite group. The CTMS will also enable operators to track the driver, crew and truck movements against preapproved route plans. The CTMS is supported by the current legal and regulatory framework existing both at regional and national level, which include inter-alia: REC Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, Corridor Agreements, Bilateral Road Transport Agreements as well as National COVID19 regulations being implemented by Tripartite Member/Partner States. The system will eventually be reinforced by the legal provisions in the Tripartite Multilateral Cross Border Road Transport Agreement adopted by the Tripartite Sectorial Ministerial Committee on Infrastructure held in Lusaka in October 2019. Director of Infrastructure at COMESA Secretariat Mr. Baptiste Mutabazi revealed in Lusaka that the CTMS will enable operator, vehicle and driver information to be readily available along regional transport corridors at the roadside and at border posts to all regulatory and law enforcement agencies. New Africa Business News Africa’s Fastest Growing Global Newspaper. Forward www.newafricabusinessnews.com He added that the CTMS is being developed and deployed in a phased manner and was first released in June this year. It will be piloted on a section of the Trans...

Africa loses an estimated $670 million in rejected exports annually due to contamination by aflatoxin. Contamination of the cereal products by the highly-poisonous chemical results in the exports failing to meet the required standards. By wreaking havoc in food stores, the highly poisonous also causes huge losses in trade revenues. This was revealed early this week during the signing of an agreement by two international organizations to fight aflatoxin in Eastern Africa. The pact by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Eastern African Grain Council (EAGC) will focus aims to contain aflatoxin contamination in the grains. “This will ensure the grains are safe for human and livestock consumption and meet export standards,” IITA said yesterday in a statement. Aflatoxin is a highly poisonous chemical produced by a naturally occurring fungus known as ‘Aspergillus flavus’ and has lately wreaked havoc on the food stores. The fungus is found in soils and attacks important crops such as maize and groundnuts while in the field and in storage when they are not dried and stored properly. Besides negative impact on export trade and food security, the chemical poses a serious health threat to both human beings and animals as a result of consuming contaminated foods. “An estimated $670m is lost in rejected export products from Africa is lost each year due to contamination by aflatoxin,” said the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA). The lobby is currently spearheading the fight against the fungus whose havoc has also adversely impacted...

According to the report from the survey among the top three challenges faced by African countries during the pandemic are reduced opportunities to meet new customers drop in demand for products and services, as well as lack of cash flow. African businesses are shifting towards new technologies in response to the ongoing pandemic, according to a new report published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The UNECA and the International Economics Consulting Ltd jointly published the report which is the second comprehensive survey on the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact across Africa, according to UNECA. The online survey was conducted from June 16 to July 20 to provide insights into the effects of the pandemic on economic activity for businesses across the region. The survey mainly identified challenges encountered by African businesses as well as their responses to mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic. According to the report from the survey among the top three challenges faced by African countries during the pandemic are reduced opportunities to meet new customers drop in demand for products and services, as well as lack of cash flow. “Companies have faced serious disruptions in both supply and market due to COVID-19, with unfair pricing seen as a major concern,” the report read, while feedback from companies about government assistance “is mixed with nearly two-thirds of the respondents indicating from moderate to no satisfaction,” it said. According to the report, “companies are currently working at about half their capacity” while...

A new information note published by the WTO Secretariat highlights how trade in goods and services has been affected by temporary border closures and travel restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes how the cross-border mobility of individuals plays an important role in both the cross-border provision and consumption of services and in manufacturing value chains. The paper notes that sweeping travel barriers introduced in the early stages of the pandemic have given way to more fine-tuned policies aimed at allowing through “essential” foreign workers, or creating quarantine-free “travel bubbles” among partners. Nevertheless, mobility barriers have had a particularly heavy impact on tourism and education services, as well as on trade in goods, due to their effect on transport services and on information and transaction costs. The paper notes that international cooperation has a potentially important role to play in minimizing the economic impact of mobility restrictions. For instance, exchanging information on lessons learnt about mobility restrictions and trade could help WTO members foster greater resilience in the face of future crises. Such an exercise could help with identifying options to implement travel measures that meet public health protection objectives while minimizing the negative effects on trade. Key points International trade and investment have always relied on the cross-border mobility of individuals. To contain the spread of COVID-19, many WTO members imposed temporary border closures and travel restrictions. The severe restrictions on cross-border movement are not motivated by trade considerations but by public health reasons. Nevertheless, they have had...

In Summary Uganda exports mostly animal, vegetable fats and oils and cleavage products to Congo. Other commodities include sunflower-seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil, and fast consumer goods. Uganda’s exports to Rwanda have fallen to a paltry Shs328m, explaining the damage caused by the yet to be resolved border dispute. This is the lowest Uganda has fetched from its exports to Rwanda among which include still and metal rollings, cement, milk personal care and house hold items and milk. According to data from the Central Bank, Uganda exported one of its lowest volumes of goods to Rwanda, previously one of its largest export destination. In June, exports fell to Shs328m compared to Shs52b that the country had fetched during the same time last year. It is not clear if the drastic drop was a result of Covid-19 restrictions. However, a border dispute between Uganda and Rwanda that has remained unresolved for two years now had created a trade standoff, forcing Uganda’s export receipts to drop by at least by 81 per cent. For instance, in May 2019, Uganda’s earnings from Rwanda fell to $2.64m (Shs9.9b) down from $14.51m (Shs54.7b) in February. This had been the lowest Uganda had ever earned from Rwanda but the Shs328m receipts will go down as a big blow to the country’s export market. However, Uganda’s exports to other countries within the East African, despite Covid-19-related disruptions, according to the Central Bank grew making up for the lost market in Rwanda. During June, according to Bank of...