The revamping of the Sh800 million Kisumu port, coupled with the rehabilitation of the old railway lines in the larger western region, now spells hope for regional trade between Kenya and other EAC States. Lack of supporting infrastructure had posed the biggest threat to the success of the port, but with the government’s commitment to repair the old railway system to the lakeside city, there is hope that the viability of the project would be guaranteed. President Kenyatta said that ports are gateways to regional and international markets, and hence their rehabilitation is a positive move towards resuscitating regional trade. “Apart from the port of Lamu, which will change regional trade dynamically, the other project is the port of Kisumu. “This port was built by the colonisers, but it collapsed at some point. We have since revived it for strategic purposes. Lake Victoria serves both the Northern and the Southern corridors,” he stated in his speech during the 57th Madaraka Day celebrations at State House, Nairobi. President Kenyatta said that with the refurbished Kisumu port, Kenya can serve the region from Mwanza and Bukoba in Tanzania, to Jinja and Entebbe in Uganda; and Muhoma Bay in Rwanda at affordable costs and decent timing. “Beyond serving the region, the port is poised to promote the ship-building and repair industry in Kenya,” he said. It will also catalyse the development of other small ports, the President added. Apart from Kisumu port, others targeted are Muhuru and Sori in Migori County; Mbita, Kendu...

Kenya’s trading value with eternal trading partners declined by Ksh.39 billion in April as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic took root in the country. Total trading in the period fell to Ksh.163 billion from Ksh.202.2 billion in March bringing the cumulative value of trade in four months to Ksh.768.7 billion from Ksh.779.3 billion over a similar period in 2019. According to the data by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenyan exports were the worst hit by the declining trade shedding off Ksh.21.3 billion in the month in comparison to imports which declined by a lesser sum of Ksh. 18billion. Cumulative exports in the year to April were however on the rise peaking at Ksh. 221.9billion from Ksh. 205.7billion in the first four months of 2019. Total imports in the year to date were meanwhile down at Ksh.546.8 billion from Ksh.573.6 billion last year. The declining trade mirrors the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which has seen wide spread disruptions to global value chains from resulting virus containment measures. Kenya’s major export destinations registered a mixed bag of outcomes in the period. Exports to Uganda for instance declined to Ksh. 2.3billion in April from Ksh. 5.3billion in March while exports to the United Kingdom grew marginally to Ksh. 4.4billion from Ksh. 4.3billion in March. Similarly, imports were mixed with orders from China recovering to Ksh. 21billion from Ksh. 16.2billion in March while imports from India fell by half to Ksh. 11.7billion from Ksh. 21.3billion. The declining trade was visible in...

East African Community (EAC) partner states have adopted a Regional Electronic Cargo and Drivers Tracking System that will be hosted at the bloc’s headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. The system will share the truck driver’s information leveraging on that which is already managed and operated by Revenue Authorities in the region, and the existing health information systems in the six EAC countries.An official explained that the development of a regional Covid-19 surveillance system for trucks and their crew is another tool to help mitigate the disruption of domestic, regional and global supply chain systems serving the region. On Monday, June 1, Daniel Murenzi, the Principal Information Technology Officer at the EAC headquarters, took The New Times through “the technical functionalities of the system” which allows users to share information across borders in a transparent manner. Murenzi said: “The system will work in all EAC Partner States. It will be interlinked to EAC Ministries of Health and accredited laboratories for the accurate information. “The system will bring on board the truck owners or companies so that information can be shared across. In case a truck driver is tested positive in another country the system will notify the Ministry of Health of the driver’s originating country.” The EAC is collaborating with Trademark East Africa in the development, implementation and operation of the surveillance system. Explaining what they hope will be achieved, Patience Mutesi, TMA country director, noted that lately, the new coronavirus has been spreading between countries largely through land borders which economies...

The Economic Commission for Africa has reported that between 300,000 and 3.3 million people on the continent could lose their lives to COVID-19. It has the opportunity to implement systems to support its nations through coronavirus, and into the future. These include free trade, regional value chains and infrastructure investment. The African Continental Free Trade Area was launched two years ago at an African Union (AU) summit in Kigali. It was scheduled to be implemented from 1 July 2020. But this has been pushed out until 2021 because of the impact of COVID-19 and the need for leaders to focus on saving lives. Studies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and others state that the free trade area has the potential to increase growth, raise welfare and stimulate industrial development on the continent. But there are concerns. Some countries, particularly smaller and more vulnerable states, could be hurt. For example, they could suffer revenue losses and other negative effects from premature liberalisation. The impact of COVID-19 will only worsen these structural weaknesses. The Economic Commission for Africa has reported that between 300,000 and 3.3 million people could lose their lives if appropriate measures are not taken. There are several reasons for this level of high risk. These include the fact that 56% of urban dwellings are in overcrowded slums, 71% of Africa’s workforce is informally employed and cannot work from home and 40% of children on the continent are undernourished. Free Trade has the potential to increase growth and...

  | FAIZEL ISMAIL | The African Continental Free Trade Area was launched two years ago at an African Union (AU) summit in Kigali. It was scheduled to be implemented from July 1, 2020. But this has been pushed out until 2021 because of the impact of COVID-19 and the need for leaders to focus on saving lives. Studies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and others state that the free trade area has the potential to increase growth, raise welfare and stimulate industrial development on the continent. But there are concerns. Some countries, particularly smaller and more vulnerable states, could be hurt. For example, they could suffer revenue losses and other negative effects from premature liberalisation. The impact of COVID-19 will only worsen these structural weaknesses. The Economic Commission for Africa has reported that between 300,000 and 3.3 million people could lose their lives if appropriate measures are not taken. There are several reasons for this level of high risk. These include the fact that 56% of urban dwellings are in overcrowded slums, 71% of Africa’s workforce is informally employed and cannot work from home and 40% of children on the continent are undernourished. Africa is also more vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 because it is highly dependent on imports for its medicinal and pharmaceutical products and on commodity exports. The latter include oil, which has suffered a severe collapse in price. Other contributing factors are high public debt due to higher...

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to hit African economies extremely hard. According to the World Bank biannual Africa’s Pulse report, as a result of the pandemic, economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa will decline from 2.4% in 2019 to between -2.1% and -5.1% in 2020, depending on the success of measures taken to mitigate the pandemic’s effects. This means that the region will experience its first recession in 25 years. The decline will be primarily due to large contractions in South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola driven by their reliance on exports of commodities whose prices have crashed as well as other structural issues. This will inevitably affect Africa’s participation in trade and value chains as well as reduce foreign financing flows. Given the limited regional market, trade with the rest of the world is vital for Africa. Before the pandemic, Africa’s trade with the rest of the world has been showing good momentum. According to UNCTAD’s Economic Development In Africa 2019 report, in the period of 2015-2017, total trade from Africa to the rest of the world averaged $760 billion in current prices, and the share of exports from Africa to the rest of the world ranged from 80% to 90% in 2000 –2017 in Africa’s total trade. The only other region with a higher export dependence on the rest of the world is Oceania. However, intra-African trade, defined as the average of intra-African exports and imports, was around 2% during the period 2015–2017, and the intra-African exports were 16.6% of...

Rwanda’s revenue collection is projected to reduce to Rwf1.4 trillion ($1.5 billion) in the 2020/2021 financial from Rwf1.6 trillion ($1.6 billion) projected in the 2019/2020 revised budget, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic which has halted the economy since March. Taxable avenues in travel, hospitality, entertainment, and tourism were all halted, while disruptions were felt in supply chains that support export in mining, agribusiness and textile. Due to these Covid-19 related disruptions, non-tax revenue is also expected to decline to Rwf184.3 billion ($197 million). The fall in revenues will drastically hamper public development projects and force the government to seek more foreign aid and assistance to foot its annual budget. Minister of Finance, Uzziel Ndagijimana, told parliamentarians that the proposed Rwf3.2 trillion ($3.4 billion) total government budget for fiscal year 2020/2021 will have to be supplemented by grants worth Rwf492.5 billion ($526 million) and external loans of Rwf783.4 billion (about $837 million). Source: The East African

Uganda's trade within the East African region has increased to 21 per cent from 14.6 in the last 2 years, a report on East Africa interstate trade has revealed. Statistics shared by the East Africa Community (EAC) Affairs ministry indicates that Uganda’s exports within the region fetched Shs 1.5 trillion in 2018/19 translating into a 21.2 per cent rise compared to 14.6 per cent in 2017. State Minister for EAC Affairs, Julius Wandera Maganda, says Uganda’s growth in the East Africa region trade was majorly dominated by agricultural products such as coffee, maize, rice and cotton followed by manufactured goods. “Manufactured goods such as cement, petroleum, sugar, confectionery, fats and oils, pharmaceuticals, steel and steel products, beer and sugar were also traded across the region,” said Maganda. He revealed the figures during the ongoing NRM manifesto week at Office of the Prime Minister on Thursday where he also shared his ministry’s achievements, challenges and pending plans. Even though Uganda took lead in trade within the region, even other countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda registered more than 13 per cent growth, while Burundi and South Sudan declined by 7.1 per cent and 18.5 respectively. Maganda further elaborated that elimination of non-tariff barriers and increased intra-EAC trade in intermediate products like cold-rolled iron and clinker boosted the regions overall growth to $5.98 billion up from $5.47 billion in two years. “The growth in intra-regional trade was attributed to favourable weather conditions over the year which increased production of agricultural commodities...

Despite an agreement arrived at on Wednesday by government officials from Kenya and Uganda on the process of Covid-19 testing for truckers at the common border, an association for Kenyan truck drivers on Thursday advised its members to suspend services until both governments address stigma and harassment. Secretary-general of the Kenyan truckers union Nicholas Mbugua said on Thursday: “There is no safety agreement between Kenya and Uganda and yet drivers are being coerced by police officers to cross over to Uganda. We demand to be guaranteed the safety of our drivers in Uganda.” Speaking at the union’s offices in Mlolongo, Mr Mbugua said the drivers were tired of ‘’unbearable humiliation drivers were subjected to in Uganda”. The truckers had blocked the Kenyan side of the border for three days from Monday, stretching almost 50 kilometres. On Tuesday, meetings between senior government officials from both countries failed to reach an agreement. Mercy Ireri, the chief operations officer at the Kenya Transport Authority, said: “I can confirm people are moving. Trucks are also moving,” she told The EastAfrican on Wednesday. “Previously the drivers had demanded that they be addressed by both President Kaguta Museveni and Uhuru Kenyatta, but we managed to allay their fears,” she said. “There was a meeting yesterday [Tuesday] where we discussed with the truck drivers their grievances. One of the big issues was the Covid-19 testing. There is a full agreement to accept each other’s testing,” said Solomon Kitungu, the principal secretary in Kenya’s ministry of Transport. “Security...

KAMPALA/NAIROBI (Reuters) - Bottlenecks at borders as government screen lorry drivers to contain the new coronavirus are putting the delivery of vital food supplies in East Africa at risk, the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. “We could have problems feeding our beneficiaries...if the situation doesn’t improve,” Julie MacDonald, WFP’s deputy director in Uganda told Reuters. She said they only had enough food left for June. The agency is shipping in 2,000 tonnes of beans and cooking oil to feed some of Uganda’s 1.4 million refugees. Some of it is stuck at Kenya’s Mombasa port and some is stuck at the Ugandan border, she said. The line of lorries at the border town of Busia between Kenya and Uganda stretched 60 kilometers (37 miles) this week, said Mercy Ireri, an official from the Kenya Transport Association. Kenya’s port of Mombasa and Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam are the main gateway to the Indian Ocean for several landlocked nations, including Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. Uganda requires truck drivers from neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania to take coronavirus tests before they are allowed to enter. Tests are also being carried out on the Tanzania-Kenya border. But delays in returning results has forced truckers to wait for up seven days, said Jackson Katende, spokesman of the Ugandan cargo transport industry body. “Business is at a standstill,” he said. Paralysis at the Uganda-Kenya border, he said, had more than doubled the time for goods to move from Mombasa to the Ugandan capital Kampala...